Avatar Couples
by AzureSpider
Summary: A collection of oneshots on various AtLA couples, both canon and otherwise. Rated T for some suggestive themes, intense make-out scenes and implied sex. No Lemons! Has been discontinued, but the "Renegades" portion may get re-written at a later date.
1. Love in the Water

Author's Note: And so, the couples begin! Let's start with an obvious one, shall we? If you want an exact time period, say, in-between episodes 29 (Bitter Work) and 30 (The Library).

Love in the water

"Almost gotcha!"

Aang narrowly avoided the blast of water that came his way. She was right of course. She had almost gotten him. He was going to have to be a lot quicker if he wanted to catch her off guard. Managing a smirk, Aang called back:

"Really? That looked like a miss to me!"

Katara returned Aang's smirk as she let loose with a water-whip. It was a basic move, so it wasn't surprising Aang moved out of the way again. And he'd always been quick on his feet anyway. As he moved out of the way, Aang retaliated with a few recently-learned waterbending moves of his own. Already knowing what to do, and doing it like a true master, Katara absorbed, dispersed, and re-directed all of Aang's attacks. As he launched another water-strike, he was beginning to tire. And Katara still went at him. How could she possibly keep going?

"You're going to have to better then that pupil Aang"

Pupil Aang. It was true. He was her pupil. The one who would teach him all he needed to know about waterbending. He'd taken to like a turtle-duck took to water (pun fully intended). But now that they had actually gotten into practice-sparring, well, suffice to say, things no longer went quite as smoothly.

Then Aang saw an opening and sent forth a torrent of water. Katara was thoroughly soaked, her hair now covering her face before she brushed it away. She grinned.

"You're gonna get it for that one"

Katara manipulated the water so that it came out from under Aang, causing him to lose balance. Acting on instinct, Aang tried to manipulate the water so that it knocked into Katara and disoriented her. The two wound up knocking each-other down. Aang got up first and rushed over to Katara. She looked up at him, wearing nothing but swimming trunks and a big grin.

"Gotcha."

With a simple gesture, Katara used the water to make Aang lose his balance and he went tumbling…into her.

For a moment, the two just sat there, drenched and taking the other's face in. At this distance, Aang could see just how nice his "teacher" looked. Sure, her hair was now long and wet, not in its usual short, "hair-loopy" look, but it didn't change a thing appearance wise. He still thought she was pretty, beautiful, in fact. It was also about then when Aang realized that he was blushing. But Katara didn't seem to notice. She smiled at him.

"Well you did a good job today. Maybe I should start taking lessons from you!"

"Nah, you had me pretty good back there. I think I'm still the student…and I really wouldn't mind it if it stayed that way…"

Katara raised an eyebrow at that and Aang suddenly realized his mistake.

_I shouldn't have said that…_

The two continued to stare at each-other, ignoring the fact that they were still on top of one another, in the water, and soaking wet. It didn't matter. The two had become too caught up on the other. Aang realized that he was blushing again. When he looked at Katara again, he could see that she was too. Almost on instinct, as though they already knew what they felt for each-other deep down, they both closed their eyes and moved a little closer…

"Hey TWINKLE TOES!"

Aang and Katara were shaken out of their would-be-moment by the familiar voice of Toph Bei-Fong, the recent addition to the group, and Aang's earthbending teacher. Apparently she had gone looking for him.

"Hey twinkle toes where are you? Pony Tail says we're packing up!"

Aang and Katara looked back at one another. No words were needed. The two just got up, dried off, and grabbed their clothes as though nothing had ever happened. When they finally showed up, Sokka was already getting on Appa and Toph was waiting impatiently, irritation evident in her grayed over eyes.

"There you are. What took you so long?"

Neither Aang or Katara said anything. They merely shot one another a quick glance. That was all it took to give Toph a clue of what **had** taken them so long…well, it did seem kind of obvious just after seeing them together a few times. As they all got off on Appa and took off, Toph whispered to Aang, as quietly as could be so neither one of the water-tribe siblings could hear.

"So…do you like her?"

Aang already knew who Toph was referring to her. He also knew exactly what she meant by "like". He also probably could have kept vague and not given the answer Toph wanted, but instead he answered truthfully:

"Yes."

Author's Notes: And that's the end of the first one! Please RR! I will be doing other couples, but once those are done, feel free to submit ideas for more when writing reviews. Please note however, that I will not be doing "Zukatara". I never cared for that pairing myself, and it's been done to death anyway. So please, no ZukoxKatara. However, for those of you who are fans of that couple, there is one exception to my policy that I will do somewhere down the line.


	2. Reconciliation

Author's Note: All right! Here's story #2! This is another "official pairing", albeit a lesser-known one. Circa Post-Book 3.

Reconciliation

Jin was awakened by a knock on her door. Opening her eyes and trying to tend to her now quite unkempt and messy hair as best as she could, she hurriedly got dressed and rushed to the door. She found herself wondering who could possibly be knocking on _her_ door, and at this time of day no less. Nevertheless, she opened it anyway.

And there he was, standing there, scar and all, exactly as he had been when they had kissed that one night so many months ago…

Too bad she now knew who he really was.

Zuko stood there looking thoroughly embarrassed but Jin didn't quite notice that. Instead, as a large number of emotions burst inside of her, several of them negative, she elected to simply shut the door. Acting with lightning-fast speed, Zuko moved one of his hands to keep the door open. She looked at him, her demeanor growing incredulous. Zuko, though initially at a loss for words, managed to utter: "Can I please come in?"

Jin just stared at him blankly. The look on Zuko's look had grown quite desperate. Jin wasn't entirely sure why she did what she did next. Maybe it was just pity, or perhaps a small vestigial strand of attraction for the Fire Nation prince still remained. Regardless, Jin finally eased up and opened the door all the way, allowing Zuko to walk in. Jin got a good look at his attire. It was Fire Nation civilian clothing, though with a few fancy characteristics that identified him as royalty. Jin knew the war was over, so what was Zuko doing here? He sat down and stared blankly at the plain wooden table. Jin eyed him with suspicion. Finally, Zuko looked up and said, bluntly,

"I'm sorry"

Jin raised an eyebrow. She wasn't sure she'd heard that right. Nevertheless, she responded

"Sorry?"

Zuko, now gaining some of his old confidence, continued,

"I said I'm sorry. I'm sorry for lying to you, I'm sorry if I hurt you, and…"

He trailed off. Those were the only two things he could think of that he thought he had done wrong to her. But then, he thought of another.

"I'm sorry I left."

Jin was now completely dumbstruck. She had definitely felt heartbroken when he and left, and even more so when the truth about her "date" had been revealed. And now here he was, back again. He said he was sorry, but she wasn't so sure. Jin went deep in thought, plunging her house into silence once more. She was thinking back to the night of their date…

Zuko being, well, Zuko had definitely explained how he'd lighted the lanterns. She found herself feeling like a complete idiot. How else did they become lit? Was she really that naïve? Apparently. Otherwise, she probably wouldn't have fallen for a Fire Nation prince in the first place. And yet…

She had thought he was cute. She had been attracted to him, she could admit that. He had seemed nice enough. And then again, he may have been Fire Nation, but he was also considered a traitor, so that made him an enemy of all nations. And if _she_ was an enemy of all nations, she probably wouldn't blow her cover for one pretty face…

And did it really matter either? He _had_ taken her out on a date, he had juggled for her (or tried anyway) and he had lit the lanterns…and the war was over anyway, so why did him being Fire Nation matter anymore? She still felt a little conflicted, but then she looked back at him. His desperation had turned into defeat, it seemed, and indeed, he got up to leave at that exact moment.

"I should…probably get going."

But then, as he was walking out of the door, another surge of emotions swept through Jin, this time all positive ones, and she bolted after him. Catching from behind before he had left, she pulled him around and looked at him with her big green eyes.

"Uh…" Jin cut him off. "I forgive you"

"Excuse me?"

"I said I forgive you."

She smiled. Her smile eased Zuko a little bit. So things had worked out…he was yanked out of his thoughts when Jin suddenly pulled him close to her and brought her lips to his with quite a bit of force. Zuko's eyes widened in shock and surprise. Then, closing his eyes slowly, he returned her kiss. He shut the door behind them and the two had the moment of bliss they had not gotten that night…

A few hours later, Zuko came back to where his Uncle Iroh waited for him.

"So how did it go Pri—Fire Lord Zuko?"

Zuko managed an ever-so-slight grin. He and his uncle were both where still getting used to the fact that he was Fire Lord now. Looking at his uncle, he said.

"Well. Very well."


	3. Where does it hurt?

Author's Note: Number three! This is the last "canon" pairing. Enjoy!

Where does it hurt?

"Cant…move."

Sokka was having some difficulty getting the words out. It was true though. His whole body had gone stiff on him, courtesy of chi-blocking in every one of his limbs. He probably should have seen something like this coming, considering how it _was _a fight against Ty Lee.

Had it been just a few months earlier it would have been way more serious then a mere practice bout, but as it was, that wasn't a comfort for Sokka when he still couldn't move a single limb and he was finding it a little difficult to talk too. She'd gotten him in the chest area as well as the arms and legs. He looked up and could see the Fire Nation circus girl standing over him, looking oh so pleased with herself. She didn't seem too concerned that she'd completely immobilized him. Then she looked down at him and blushed a little as she giggled:

"Sorry. Got a little carried away."

"Oh ya think!"

Ty Lee smirked and outstretched a hand to help Sokka up, but then, remembering that he couldn't take it, instead elected to hoist him up.

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing!"

Ty Lee had somehow hoisted Sokka into her arms and walked off with him as he found himself wondering how she could possibly carry him. Finally coming to a tree on a hillside, she did indeed grow somewhat exhausted with having to haul around someone older and heavier then she, and she set him down against the tree. Sokka groaned as he was laid down but then, he suddenly remembered:

Hey wait a minute! Where are my club and boomerang?"

Ty Lee smiled.

"Oh, you mean, _this _boomerang?"

Ty Lee unveiled Sokka's precious boomerang. As a kid it was his favorite toy. It had since become his favorite weapon. His eyes widened at seeing it. Seeing this, Ty Lee spun around and threw it.

Sokka's eyes widened in horror once more as the boomerang went flying away. Inevitably of course, it eventually came flying back. Ty Lee casually moved the upper half of her body out of the way of the boomerang while her feet remained rooted in place, her hand already outstretched to retrieve the boomerang, which did indeed go flying right back into her hand. Sokka couldn't help but be a little impressed. Then, Ty Lee kneeled beside Sokka, who was still immobile, and whispered:

"So where does it hurt?"

For a minute, Sokka merely stared at her incredulous. Ty Lee decided to take the initiative. She ran one of her hands across one of Sokka's immobilized legs. Sokka suddenly had a very strange feeling as she did that.

"Here?"

"No!"

"Ooook…" She moved her hand up his chest.

"Here?"

"Uh…yes…"

She kissed his chest, which really caught him by surprise.

"Better?"

"Uh…"

Ty Lee smiled and moved even closer to him. That strange feeling Sokka had felt when she had rubbed her hand on his leg came back. As she moved closer still, he suddenly realized what she was trying to do.

"Uh wait, I…I…"

Sokka's words, or lack thereof, weren't spoken with a strand of conviction. And Ty Lee knew it too. She moved in, closed her eyes, and brought her lips to his. Sokka had sort of seen this coming, so he wasn't as surprised as he probably should have been. As Ty Lee kissed him, Sokka could feel that one of his arms was finally getting some feeling back. After another second or two, he could finally move his arm again. As quickly as he could manage, he wrapped that arm around Ty Lee and pushed her closer to him, their kiss deepening, and their tongues fighting with the same intensity as their little practice spar. Eventually, as the feeling in Sokka's other arm returned, he wrapped it around Ty Lee as the two's lips separated. She gave him one of her usual big smiles.

"Feeling better now?"

Sokka blushed a bit, still at a loss for words, but eventually, he managed to say

"Yeah. I'm feeling better."

"Goodie. Cause' I'm not done."

"What—?"

Ty Lee cut Sokka off as she grabbed him and rolled down to the ground, with her on top of him, kissing him once more.

And even though he still couldn't feel his legs, Sokka enjoyed every second of it.

Author's Note: And that's the end of that. Don't get me wrong, I'm partial to SokkaxSuki, but I always found this one cute too. Please RR!


	4. Enemies?

Author's Note: And so, the random couples begin! And what a random couple to start with too! Note that this one is longer then the last three, and is also less of a true couple, but, nevertheless, enjoy!

Enemies?

The whole world slowed down as he saw the scene take place. Aang burst out of his crystal cage, tattoos and eyes glowing with a bluish-hue. So this was his Avatar State. Jet had seen it once before, when Aang entered this state and knocked out Long Feng before he could kill him. As Aang continued to levitate higher and higher, attracting the attention of all within the crystal-filled chamber, including Jet and his two Freedom fighters Longshot and Smellerbee. As the scene took place, Jet could see movement in the corner of his eye. Turning, he could see the blue firebender, getting ready to blast Aang in the back. Jet knew he had to act quickly. Whipping around, he turned to his most trusted Freedom Fighter.

"Longshot!" Jet shouted, getting the archer's attention and pointing at Azula with one of his hook-swords.

"Take her down!"

Longshot, silently acknowledged, and, with his usual superior marksmanship, turned and let fly with an arrow aimed directly at the Fire Nation princess. Her ears picked up the sound of the arrow coming her way, and in one fluid, lightning fast motion, moved out of the way as the arrow went flying by. Jet looked on in horror as a blast of lightning shot out of the girl's fingertips and struck Aang in the back. And with this, the avatar plummeted. Katara, acting in quickly, swept away the Dai Li agents with her superior waterbending and rushed to Aang's side. Cradling the young airbender in her arms, she had the same look Jet had had when he saw his parents incinerated in front of him. It was grief, horror…and rage.

A blast of fire rocketed through. Jet looked up. It was the old man who he had seen heat tea himself. And it would seem his suspicions about him were true. The old man leaped down and shouted at Katara, now carrying Aang's body.

"Go! I'll hold them off for as long as I can!"

Jet wasn't so sure he heard that right, but then he saw him attack the Dai Lee agents with everything he had. So he _was _buying them time to escape. Jet may hate the Fire Nation, but he wasn't about to turn down a chance to escape. Turning to Longshot and Smellerbee, he gave the order to follow him and Katara out. Both nodded silently in acknowledgement and the three freedom fighters took off after Katara. As the four made their way out, Jet took a look back at the old man fending off Dai Lee agents, and saw him surrender when he saw that Jet and the others had escaped. Why did he do it? He couldn't have been on their side, could he?

The group made their way out of the crystal caverns and out to where Sokka, Toph, and the Earth King awaited on Appa. Longshot kept his arrow cocked and aimed at the doorway, for all the good it would do against a legion of Earthbenders as Smellerbee shaked the blood off her kukri from the Dai Lee agent she stabbed. Then several small blades shot through the air and struck Jet in the arm. He fell to his knees and tore the projectiles out. He looked up. Two girls, one in a maroon dress and the other in pink baggy pants and a tank top leapt down. Longshot whipped around and let fly with an arrow. The girl in pink cartwheeled out of the way, as the girl in maroon let loose with another flurry of her projectiles. Jet swatted the projectiles away with his twin hooks and shouted at Katara to keep running.

Katara did as she was told and kept running, still holding Aang in her arms. Mai and Ty Lee moved in, the former unleashing several more of her blades. Jet charged forward and kicked her back as Ty Lee leaped in, and made a jab at Jet's arm. Jet felt his arm lose all feeling and he dropped his sword. Quickly moving out of the way to avoid Ty Lee's next series of jabs, he spun around and kicked her to the ground. She glared at him.

"That hurt" She carthwheeled back to her feet as Jet moved out of the way. He shouted to Smellerbee and Longshot, the latter was in an exchange of fire with Mai.

"Go! Get out of here! I'll hold these two off!"

"But Jet, you're—"

Jet cut Smellerbee off. "Don't wanna hear it! Both of you get out of here now!"

Jet's two freedom fighters exchanged a brief glance before turning their gaze to him. Longshot spoke, for the first time in years.  
"It's been an honor sir"

"Likewise. Now go!"

Longshot nodded, let fly with one last arrow, and then took off with Smellerbee, leaving Jet to his fate. He waited for Ty Lee to move in for another go at him and moved to one side to avoid her, slashing at her with his hook sword. Ty Lee leaped over the blade and then landed on it, pinning it. Mai threw some more of her blades at him, and Jet was forced to abandon his second sword to move out of the way. He backpedaled as Ty Lee came at him, then sidestepped, grabbed her ponytail, and delivered a stunning blow to the girl's neck. Ty Lee's body went limp and she fell to the ground. A harsh way of taking an opponent down, but she _was_ Fire Nation, and she _had_ immobilized his arm…

The other girl glared at him with sheer contempt.

"You're gonna pay for that."

Jet smirked. One down, one to go. And she shouldn't be a problem…Mai let loose with more of her blades, and Jet dodged the projectiles and grabbed his hook sword. Mai ran at him, drawing the last of her blades and planning to jam them in her opponent's neck. But as the two charged, Jet slid all of a sudden, using his hook sword to trip Mai. As Mai tried to get up, Jet put his sword's spine to her neck to discourage that plan. She gave him a look that would shatter windows. Jet smirked. He was doing well.

"Anyone else?"

Almost as an answer, a blast of blue flame came forth, catching Jet of guard. Bringing his sword to his face and backpedaling, Jet tried to disperse the blue flame, but it still knocked him to the ground and damaged his armor. Jet staggered back to his feet and had to leap out of the way as the Fire Nation princess came down hard, creating a small tidal wave of blue flame. Jet got up, and, his other arm now working again, gripped his one hook sword in both hands. The girl gave a wicked grin, clearly amused by the idea of Jet trying to fight her. That lack of seriousness annoyed him. She shot another blast of blue flame out, and Jet moved out of the way once more. He ran at her but made sure not to be too hasty. It didn't matter. She intercepted him and began unleashing blast after blast of her distinctive blue flames. Jet gritted his teeth. He'd taken down plenty of firebenders before, including blue firebenders like her. He could beat her.

Or could he? As he made another slash, she blocked the blade with her greave and grabbed his sword hand. With her other, she blasted Jet back, and simultaneously disarmed him of his weapon. She held it her hand and gazed at it for a second before nonchalantly tossing it away. Jet, incensed at seeing his precious twin hook sword be thrown away like it was a piece of garbage, ran at her and dodged the blast of blue flame she retaliated with. He attempted some punches of his own, but she only blocked each one as it came. After a brief exchange of blows, she knocked him to the ground and pinned him by placing her spiked boot on his chest. She kneeled down at him, smiling that wicked grin again.

"You've got possibilities peasant-boy…"

She leaned forward, still smirking, shut her eyes slowly, and pressed her lips against his. Jet's eyes widened in horror. The taste of her lips was a pleasant one, but the fact that it was coming from _her_ made it revolting. Finally, she took her lips off of his and stared at him with those disgusting yellow eyes, and that ever-present smirk on her face.

"But, unfortunately, I don't have time to play around…"

Jet glared at her. Then, without warning, Azula viciously punched him as hard as she could, and Jet's world went black.

He woke up in a drab gray cell. It didn't take him long to know where he was. Well, he knew this would happen the minute he chose to stay behind. It was actually a miracle he was still alive. Well, he was out of the picture. It was all up to Aang and company now. As he sat up, he realized that he was still in his regular clothing, minus the armored parts, which had been removed. He could also feel the room sway slightly every now and then, suggesting he was on a boat. Great, a prison ship. No doubt he was doomed to be locked up on Fire Nation vessels like these for the rest of his days. Assuming they didn't execute him first.

As he continued to languish alone in his cell, he wondered whether or not Longshot and Smellerbee had made it out. He quickly decided they had. They where, after all, his two best freedom fighters. Days came and went, with Jet in complete isolation. He was fed of course, but a small hatch was there for food to be slid under. Interestingly, the food, while nothing special, wasn't the slime he was expecting either. Strange. Finally, after weeks on end in total isolation, the movement on the ship stopped. That meant the ship had stopped. Another ten minutes ticked by before some Firebenders opened the door and ushered Jet out of his cell. He was led through the winding metal halls of the ship until he was finally taken up top and then saw that he was staring at the Fire Nation's capital. Talk about being in the Lion's den.

As he looked out, he could see her. The Fire Nation princess. Upon seeing him, she gave him her usual smirk before silently ordering the guards to lead him into a nearby smaller boat. Jet was led onto the boat and rowed to shore, where he was promptly thrown into a cell in a Fire Nation prison.

_Well, it's better then the cell on the ship…_

Jet got to his feet and stretched his arms and legs. It wasn't long before he heard a knock on the door and in she came. Jet turned and glared at her. She merely kept up her smirk.

"How do you like you're new living quarters?"  
"Their great" Jet remarked sarcastically. "Now how's about you get the hell out?"

She didn't seem too insulted by that remark.

"Oh come now, is that any way to talk to a princess?" She walked closer to his cell, and was now only inches away from the bars.

"…Especially one who kept you well fed?"

Jet raised an eyebrow. Well that would explain the decent food…He kept his gaze fixed on her. She seemed to be eyeing him intently, her grin never fading. Finally, she sighed.

"…I suppose peasants really don't have any manners…"

Something flared up inside Jet. He shouted back at her as she began to walk away.

"You're lecturing me about manners! You're all a bunch of murderers!"

She stopped in her tracks and turned back around to face him.

"Murderers?"  
"Yes Murderers! I've seen what you monsters have done! I saw how your "Rough Rhinos" burned down my village and killed my parents!"

She walked back to his cell, and pressed her head against the bars, her eyes ever-fixed on him.

"And what if I told you we weren't all monsters?"

"I wouldn't believe you"

For once, her smile disappears, replaced with a frown and a look of disappointment. Jet guesses that it's insincere. Finally, she continues: "You know, you _are_ somewhat charming…for an Earth Kingdom peasant. I could definitely think of some way to make things better for you…if you only agreed to certain demands…"

"Go to hell"

She frowns once again. She turns her back to him and walks out.

"Suit yourself. Just know that it can get pretty miserable in here…"

Jet pondered his current situation. There was no getting out of here. She promised him she could make things better for him, which would make it easier to escape…wait, what was he saying? Escape from the Fire Nation capital? How was he going to do that? Still, he's not sure if he'll be able to stand being in this cell for the rest of his life…

He makes his choice. He calls out to her.

"Wait…"

She stops.

"Yes?"

"You win."

She grins once more. "Of course I do."

The next few days come and go slowly, and boy are they strange days indeed. She takes him out of his cell, but does so discreetly. She allows him to walk across the hillside and the cliff-face, to gaze out at the never-ending sea, all the while keeping those yellow eyes fixed on him. Then, and not always at the same time either, she takes him back to his cell. It's not every day either. There are gaps. Sometimes it's only one day. Other times it's five. After a while, the practice ceases completely. He begins to suspect that their charade is over. But then, one day, she returns. A guard unlocks his cell door. He stares at her dumbfounded.

"Come with me." She walks out. He doesn't immediately follow. She turns back to him.

"Unless you'd prefer to stay."

Jet gets up and follows her. They go to a wide-open, empty area that's almost like an arena. He looks down. There is a set of armor on the floor, along with…

"My swords!"

She turns to him.

"Yes. Pick them up, and put the armor on."

Jet doesn't bother to ask what will happen if he refuses. He already knows. Cursing his choice, he puts the armor on. It's made for his size, fitting perfectly. It resembles standard Fire Nation soldier armor, but with some differences. It has the usual black spiked boots, but the pant part is red, as are the sleeves. The chest armor, along with the greaves and gauntlets, are solid black. He asks her: "What is the point of all this?"

She doesn't answer. Instead, she whips around and fires a blast of blue flame at him. Jet, his twin hook swords finally back in his hands, backpedals and moves in to strike at her. Chaining his swords together, he twirls them around and around but she merely leaps out of the way. Dis-linking his two swords, he swings one at her. She moves out of the way of that, and kicks the sword out of his hand. He attempts to punch her but she grabs his arm and pulls it behind his back. He tries to bring his other sword down on her, causing her to move out of the way and release his arm. He swings his blade at her, but she moves back and viciously kicks him to the ground, firebending amplifying the kick's force. Now on the ground once again, Jet stares up at her, now standing over him. She's looking at him the way a starving person looks at food. He's gotten tired of these games. He shouts at her:

"What do you want!"

She smiles that damn smile of hers and kneels beside him, pulling his head up and bringing it close to her face.

"You mean it isn't obvious? You."

Author's Note: Believe it or not, this took most of the day to do. So I hope you all enjoy and please RR! And about Azula having yellow eyes, in the pictures I've seen, I've noticed that a lot of the Fire Nation characters seem to have yellow eyes. And in Star Wars, the Sith have yellow eyes, so I thought it made sense.


	5. Masks

Masks

The Painted Lady healed the last of the sick boys lying on the street and then silently departed as quickly as she had come. She only stopped to take one last sad look back at the boys sleeping comfortably and contently now that their various injuries and ailments had been cured. Seeing scores of people, children especially, lying on the streets, sick, starving, and barely clothed, was depressing. But, in healing them, she took consolation that she _was_ helping them, however little.

She knew though deep down, that she could not keep this up forever. She and the others would have to move on soon, and leave this place behind. And the people would suffer once more without her there to help them…

Then she heard something. It sounded like footsteps. Someone was approaching. Acting quickly, she sprinted into the shadows, and watched silently. She saw a shadow move. She couldn't make out the shape, but guessed it was a man. Curiosity took over, and she peered out. She saw two men, who she suspected where off-duty Fire Nation soldiers, approach a nearby house. One, a bigger, burly man, pounded on the door with his fist. Looking on, the Painted Lady saw the door open ever-so-slightly, and out came an elderly man looking a bit worse for wear. The old man eyed the pair with a mix of suspicion and terror, and kept the door mostly closed.

The bigger Fire Nation soldier lost his temper, and with one hand, pulled the door open and forced his way in. The old man backed up, cringing in terror as the soldier went in. Seeing all of this from her hiding place, the Painted Lady was all set to intervene when another shadow dropped down. As the Painted Lady looked on, she could see the drawing of blades. One swung at one of the soldier's…

The Painted Lady turned away in horror as the first, smaller soldier was cut down by the assailant. Turning back, she indeed saw the first soldier's corpse on the ground, blood flowing freely from where he was struck. The bigger, burly man had since turned around and confronted the assailant. The soldier attempted to land a punch but the assailant side-stepped out of the way as the man brought his fist down, and retaliated with a strike from his two broadswords, one of them slashed at the man's chest. The soldier lets out an angry cry and charged at the assailant with his entire body mass. The assailant leapt out of the way once more, spun around and slashed at the man's back with both of his swords. The man let out a howl of pain as the assailant finally kicked him to the ground, burying his face in the pavement.

The assailant then leaned down, and whispered in the soldier's ear.

"Never bother these people again"

The assailant stood up, and the Painted Lady could finally see his face. Or, as the case was, what he _wore_ over his face…

It was a mask, an oni mask to be precise. It had white designs on it that contrasted well with the blue that made up the rest of it. There were a pair of eyeholes, but beneath them was nothing but empty blackness. There was a toothy grin etched onto the mask where the mouth would be, and it gave the mask an overall disturbing visage.

The Painted Lady was taken a back a bit. She wasn't exactly expecting to see that. As she looked on, the figure ran off into the night. It was against her better judgment, but she couldn't help it so, she ran after him. What could she say? She was curious.

At first, her pursuit of him went well, but then, he turned around and spotted her. Upon seeing her, he ran even faster, and she struggled to keep up. Their chase continued to an abandoned alley-way. The man continued in his attempts to flee, but the Painted Lady had him cornered. She stared hard at him, her unrelenting gaze meeting the blank stare of his mask.

"Who are you?"

The figure merely shook his head silently, his hands were already reaching for his sheathed broadswords.

"I don't want to hurt you" She outstretched a hand in the hope it would calm him down. He paused and stared at her, his blank gaze was unnerving. Finally though, he lowered his broadswords, but he refused to put them away completely.

Just then, a muffled scream tore through the silence. Both the Painted Lady and the man turned around to the source of it. The two exchanged a brief glance before the man ran past her to follow the source of the scream. The Painted Lady chose to follow him, not caring if he wanted her to or not. They arrived at another alleyway and found a young girl backed up against the wall by a nasty-looking man. It didn't take a genius to know what was going on, or what the thug would do if he had his way.

The masked man moved before the Painted Lady could act. He rushed behind the would-be-rapist and delivered a stunning jab to his side. The man whipped around and tried to punch his assailant but he grabbed his fist and dislocated his arm. The man screamed in pain and the masked man took him out with a strike across the face. As he collapsed, the Painted Lady looked on in horror and revulsion at the masked man's brutality. He kneeled down near the girl, still pressed against the wall, but now in a fetal position. He outstretched a hand.

"It's over. He won't touch you again, ever. I promise."

The girl stared at the masked man in horror. The Painted Lady rolled her eyes. Yes, this was exactly what the girl needed to see. Someone like _him_. She moved forward, and shoved the masked man to the side. She outstretched her own hand to the girl. She smiled.

"Don't worry, it's OK. That man helped you. I can too. Are you hurt?"

The girl nodded. The Painted Lady looked down at the cuts on her arms. Using her healing abilities, the Painted Lady mended the cuts. The girl looked at her healed wounds in shock and then looked back up at the Painted Lady, jaw hanging open. The Painted Lady smiled and then helped the girl to her feet. She then turned. The man in the mask continued to stare hard at the two women, neither criticizing nor comforting. As the Painted Lady helped the girl stand up, the man ran off once more. The Painted Lady watched him traverse the rooftops, and once again felt that sudden impulse to follow him.

The two followed one another across the rooftops, the Painted Lady still intrigued by the masked man. Eventually, they came to a stop on a rooftop overlooking the murky sea and the factory that was partly to blame for all the pollution. He turned to face her, the eye-holes of his mask boring into her. Then, without warning, he leaped off the roof and disappeared into the shadows.

She would run into him again the next night. They travelled the city together, helping people in need wherever they saw them, but that didn't happen often. Instead, the two often found themselves exploring the town alone. Throughout their time together, he did not speak to her once. She decided to call him the Blue Spirit, a nod to his distinctive mask. Though verbal interactions were essentially nonexistent, the two still managed to grow close somehow…appreciating the other's company…

Eventually, the gang discovered what she was doing. One thing lead to another, and eventually, the Fire Nation soldiers were driven away, and the polluted river was cleaned by the village people. Afterwards, her friends decided that it was time to move on.

But she still had one last thing to do.

She donned her Painted Lady disguise for what she knew would be the last time, and went to find the Blue Spirit. It didn't take her long. He found her. She looked at him. His broadswords where gone, and he seemed less tense then usual. She decided to not mince words.

"I'm leaving."

He stared at her with those black eye-holes once more. Then, he spoke, for the first time since she met him.

"But…I need you here"

The Painted Lady raised an eyebrow at that. She hadn't expected him to talk and definitely hadn't expected him to say _that_. She looked down sadly, and turned her back to him.

"I'm sorry"

She got ready to leave when she felt a strong hand grab her wrist. The Blue Spirit pulled her back, raised his mask enough to expose his mouth, and locked lips with her. Taken by surprise and overcome with quite a few emotions, the Painted Lady didn't resist, but instead closed her eyes and welcomed him.

The Blue Spirit threw his mask to the ground and deepened their kiss, his tongue massaging hers, before the Painted Lady eventually forced him to break it. As soon as the kiss was broken, the Blue Spirit whipped around so she wouldn't see his face, picked his mask up and put it back on. Then he turned to face her again. Their exchange was, as usual, a wordless one. The Blue Spirit nodded to her to erase her uncertainty of leaving. She nodded back and left the Blue Spirit alone on the rooftop. As she and her friends flew away and left the town behind, the Painted Lady found she had only one regret…

She hadn't even learned his name.

Author's Note: See, I promised all of you ZukoxKatara fans that I would make an exception to my policy! But man…this took me all day to do. Part of that was because I had other things to do, and the other reason was that my writing style's changing all of a sudden and I had to re-write the whole story to match my original writing style. Not fun. Still, I hope you enjoyed, and please RR!


	6. Far from home

Author's Note: And here's number six! This one's not so much a couple as it is an attraction, but I still had fun with it. Enjoy!

Far from Home

Ursa made her way through the freezing cold land as quickly as she could, not going in any true direction, except to get as far away from her old home as possible.

_And from your only son_ A voice in her head reminded her.

It was true. But she couldn't stay for him, she had to leave. It would scar him, but in the long run, this was the best choice.

The freezing air continued to gnaw at her flesh. She pulled her cloak tighter around her and continued moving at a hurried pace. She looked on ahead. She was going to have to navigate through the forest in front of her. She gave an exasperated sigh but nevertheless trudged on through the trees, navigating the broken, collapsed remnants of trees that had since fallen and looked for any discernable path out. She looked down and could make out what were clearly footsteps in the ground. So someone had already been through here…Ursa's heart began to race. Were they Fire Nation Soldiers, perhaps looking for her? No, she had already been banished. They wouldn't hunt her down. She looked back down at the footprints, and no, they didn't match Fire Nation soldier's boots. They looked to have been made by slightly lighter footwear…

Deciding not to give it much more thought, Ursa kept navigating through the woods. The frigid winds had finally died down, but the air itself was still cold. She continued to wander aimlessly for a little while longer, before she suddenly came to the realization that she had been going in circles. She felt like giving into her growing despair when a friendly-sounding voice shook her out of her thoughts.

"Excuse me miss, are you lost?"

Ursa turned around and saw a man clad in Water Tribe garments, with a shouldered war club on his back and a saddlebag in on hand. He was of a medium height, not very tall, but not ridiculously short either. He had a small brown beard that was slightly pointed along with long wavy hair, accompanied with a top knot. And he had a warm smile on his face. He struck Ursa as a pleasant sort of man. Even though they would have been considered enemies under normal circumstances, she wasn't exactly under normal circumstances anymore, nor was she about to turn down an offer for help either, so she answered him.

"Yes, I think I am."

"Well, I am too. Well, not exactly. _I_ know the way out, but I've been looking for my friends for a few hours now. I still haven't found them." He shrugged. "It's a big forest. And to be fair, navigation's never been Bato's strong suit…"

"Yes…well can you please help me get out?"

The man smiled at her. "Well, since I'm having no luck with Bato and the others, sure, I suppose I can. Follow me."

And so, the man went off in the opposite direction and Ursa followed right behind. The two navigated the woods for a while, both in complete silence as they did. Eventually though, the man broke the silence.

"My name is Hakoda by the way."

Ursa decided against telling Hakoda her real name. Instead she said: "Ilah." (Easy enough alias, it was her late mother-in-law's name.)

"Well, pleased to meet you Ilah."

"Likewise"

As the two continued further, Hakoda opted to strike up a conversation.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, where are you going?"

"I do mind in fact. I'd rather my business stay my own."

"Very well. Didn't mean to intrude."

"You didn't exactly, it's just some…family troubles."

Hakoda raised an eyebrow.

"Oh." There was silence once more before he added: "I've had to leave my children behind. Going off to war and all." Ursa didn't respond to that as he continued "My son wanted to come with me…I told him being a man was knowing where he was needed most. And I told him that he was needed at home. He didn't understand, but he still stayed behind. I haven't seen him or his sister since."

There was silence once more before Ursa finally responded.

"I've had to leave my son."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

Ursa did not respond to his condolences even though she probably should have. Their conversation changed to other topics, such as Hakoda discussing what he and his men have been doing to contribute in the war effort, or Ursa talking about her time with her son, leaving out of course, who he was along with certain details about their family. Eventually, as they passed a family of Lizard-Mice, they came to a stop. In front of them was a clearing out of the forest. Hakoda turned to Ursa.

"Well, we're here."

She turned to him.

"Thank you."

He smiled. "Don't mention it. I hope you see your son again."

She lowered her head solemnly, remembering that she might never see him again.

"Yes…I hope so too." She said, even though in truth she wasn't getting her hopes up. She turned to him. "I hope you see your children again someday."

He smiled once more.

"I know I will." He outstretched a hand. She decided to take it and they shook hands before departing each-other's company.

"I hope I see you again someday."

She whipped around upon hearing that. He still stood there, smiling. When she looked at him, he waved her good-bye. She waved back, and then walked off, now alone once more. As she did, she realized that the cold air was gone. In fact, she almost felt…warm. As she continued to walk, she hoped she would see Hakoda of the Water Tribe again some day.

But she also knew, that like with Zuko, that day of reunion would have to wait.

Author's Note: Man, my well of creativity doesn't seem as full as it used to be. Three times in a row now these things have taken me all day to do. And this one's not as original as I had thought either. Oh well. Please RR! No seriously, I really would appreciate more reviews. I've seen other stories that get OVER 60. How many has mine gotten? Three. It's not that I'm un-appreciative, mind you, but is it too much to ask for a few more reviews here? Lizard-Mice are my own original AtLA animal by the way.


	7. Hereafter

Author's Note: Here we go! I've wanted to do this one for a long time now. It's random, mind you, but I think I really made it work. Tell me what you think.

Hereafter

Smellerbee and Longshot moved Jet's body out of the dark chamber of the Dai Lee's hidden lair. He was bigger and heavier then they where, so each one of them had to hold one end of him as they hauled him out together. Jet's breathing had become as faint as could be, and Smellerbee was a nervous wreck. Longshot was to, but he didn't show it. Finally, once the two were certain they were clear of the Dai Lee, they set Jet's body down. Smellerbee kneeled down to look at his injuries. She put a gloved hand near his chest. In a lightning-like motion, Jet grabbed her wrist. Smellerbee was taken aback. Jet struggled to get the words out.

"Don't. Katara couldn't heal it. You can't. It's over for me."

"Jet…" Smellerbee was crying freely, something she had never done before since her mother's death. "Don't go."

"It's too late. My time here is done. Listen, Aang and Katara will need…all…Agh!, all the help they can get…I want you two to help them…however you can."

"But we need you here."

"Well…that…*cough*, isn't happening."

"Jet, I always thought that if any of us were ever going to survive through the war, it would be you more then any of us."

"Yeah, well, funny how things work huh? You and Longshot need to go now."

"No. We're not leaving."

"What are you waiting for? For me to give up the ghost? Well, you're not gonna have to wait…*cough, cough* much longer…"

Jet looked up at his two freedom fighters for what he knew would be the last time.

"Go, both of you. Help…Aang and the others…and…"

Jet coughed once more, though this time it sounded like a pathetic sort of wheeze. Then, he finished his sentence: "Make it count."

And with that, Jet breathed his last. His eyes slowly closed as the whole world grew cold and dark...

opened his eyes and awoke to a world that was surrounded by gray fog and mist. He looked up. The sky was an overcast gray. Jet realized that his breathing had returned to its normal pace. He no longer felt the intense crushing pain in his chest. He looked down. He was still wearing his regular clothes. But all of his injuries were gone.

Now, Jet had usually considered himself G-d-less. After what happened to his village, he always had trouble with spirituality. Of course, he liked to hold out hope that maybe there was someplace where the dead went, a place where those killed by the Fire Nation got a second chance…

And as it was, there was no denying what he was seeing and feeling. He had died, and now he was here. To be fair, he still didn't know exactly where "here" was, but he decided that if he was going to find out, he was going to have to get up and get moving. As he got up and started walking in one direction, he made a mental note that he no longer had his weapons. Well what did it matter? He was already dead. Although to be fair, he liked those twin hook swords…well, he was sure Longshot and Smellerbee would take good care of them.

He wandered for a while. The world of gray mist and fog was not completely featureless. There were trees, though most of them looked like withered wrecks, there were rocks, and Jet could have sworn there was a stream as well. He also found after an hour or so of wandering that this seemingly endless world had boundaries. He could only go so far in any given direction before being stopped as if by an invisible barrier. He explored the first three quarters, and then made his way to the last one…

As he made his way further into the last unexplored area, he thought he saw something in the distance. It was a figure, hidden by the mists. He could make out the shape well enough. It was a woman. He moved closer, not knowing who it was, but noticing that she looked regally dressed. He moved even closer still, but the figure did not seem to take notice of him. Finally, when he was about 25 yards from her, curiosity took over completely and he called out to the figure.

"Hello? Who are you?"

The figure whipped around and took a few several steps back, not expecting to see anyone else. Jet walked closer to who this woman was and was a little taken aback by what he saw past the fog. She was a water-tribe woman, he could tell by the blue dress she wore and the lightly tanned skin that was common among Water Tribe individuals. Her features were striking, helped in that regard by sad-looking blue eyes that looked like an ocean when one stared at them for too long. But the greatest visual stand-out was white hair that was fashioned to be so elaborate and glamorous it definitely suggested royalty. He eyed her up and down, clearly impressed by her beauty. If she was at all put out by it, she didn't seem to show it much.

"Huh." Was all Jet could say when he was done taking her appearance in. But then he followed it up by saying: "What's your name?"

"Yue." She said in a pleasant but sad-sounding voice. "Who are you?"

He smirked. "Jet."  
"Pleased to meet you "Jet". What happened to you?"

So she knew he was dead. There was a bit of silence before Jet finally said: "Let's just say I died helping the Avatar."

Her blue eyes lit up. "You saw the Avatar?"

"Yeah, I did. And I was brainwashed into attacking him. I chose not to, and my would-be-controller hurled a large slab of rock at my chest. I didn't last long after that."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, so am I. So, how did you get here?"

Yue went on to tell him her story, how the Moon Spirit had given her life, and how she was ultimately forced to give that life back. Jet had heard about the Fire Nation's failed siege on the Northern Water Tribe. He had never heard about Yue or anything involving the Moon Spirit though.

"…But now, all of a sudden, I've ended up here, and I don't know why. Do you have any idea where we are?"

Jet shrugged. "You're asking the wrong guy. Heaven maybe. Although if I'm here, maybe it's Hell…

Yue shot Jet a look. He returned it with a smirk. "That was a joke." There was a bit of silence before Jet added: "So…you wanna walk with me?"

Yue didn't respond at first, but then, she looked up at him again and said: "I suppose so."

And so, the two walked off into the last unexplored area of this strange hereafter they were stuck in. Interestingly, this area did not seem to have a boundary, or if it did, it still hadn't shown up yet. As they continued to walk together, the two got to know each-other a little better. Yue learned about Jet's exploits involving the Freedom Fighters, including his run-ins with the Avatar. As she heard his stories and saw more of his personality, she began to feel more and more a sense of charisma and confidence inside of him. He seemed almost…charming.

Jet learned about how Yue lived her short life in the Northern Water Tribe. To say her parents, her father especially, doted on her, was a gross understatement. They had wanted a daughter, and when their only one was miraculously saved from death…her father would do anything for her. Hearing Yue talk about the time she spent with her parents made Jet just a tad envious. He had, after all, only known his parents for 8 years. Yue had known hers for twice that long. Still, he was happy for her, less so when she told him about her arranged marriage and the heartbreak that caused, or her sacrifice that came shortly thereafter. But through it all, he found it hard to take his eyes off her. She was really easy on the eyes, he had to admit. He could see how a lot of guys in the North Pole would want to marry her. And he could definitely understand Sokka's attraction to her…

That got Jet wondering what had happened to Sokka, Aang, and the others. What had they done after they found Appa and escaped Lake Laogai? He didn't know. But he knew they'd get rid of Long Feng and open the Earth King's eyes to the war that had been happening right in front of him. And he just knew they'd stop the Fire Nation. They had to.

Then he noticed something. As she finished her story, Jet could see tears escaping Yue's eyes. Reaching over with one hand, he wiped away the tears on the side of her face facing him. She turned around as he did and he could feel her blue eyes bore into him. Then, she lowered her head.  
"I'm sorry."

"No, it's OK. No one should have to die young."

"I had to. Or the world would still be without a moon"

"Doesn't change the fact that it's sad"

"No, it doesn't, but…"

"The ends justify the means right? I used to think that, and if you remember from what I told you, it didn't end so well for me."

"What would you have had me do!" Her voice rose in anger. "Let the world be deprived of its moon and my people their power?"

"No! That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying it's OK to be sad that you only lived to be 16."

She lowered her head once more, and whispered: "I am sad."

Jet was set to put his arm around her but thought better of it. The two kept walking, now both oblivious to the fact that there was still no end in sight to this world. No boundary unlike the other areas.

Finally though, they did get tired of walking endlessly, and so they sat down next to each-other, near a flowing stream. There was nothing in the stream save grayish colored water, obviously, but it was a nice place to rest. They both sat in silence, watching the gray water continue to flow. Jet turned to Yue.

"You know. If I had known I'd be running into someone like you in the afterlife…I might not have minded my death as much."

She turned to him.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Isn't it obvious? That I like you."

Yue raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah, I do. I mean, you're nice, you're fun to talk to, and you're definitely beautiful…"

Yue blushed at that last bit.

Jet decided to change the topic. "You want to keep walking?"

"I…I think I'd rather rest."

Jet shrugged. "Sure. I'm actually kind of tired myself…"

The two lied down on the ground, the gray fog covering their bodies completely. Jet closed his eyes for the first time since he died…

He dreamt a bizarre dream. He saw the world distorted with rainbows of colors. He remembered his village on fire…only this time he was his current age…he saw people running away in terror. He saw a young boy alone, looking on in horror at the Rough Rhinos, his parent's killers. Then, he realized: _It's me._

The fiery village then turned into a dark chamber with a sinister green glow. Jet couldn't make out anything in the poor light. But he heard something. Something that sounded like someone, or something, moving. Then, Jet could hear the figure moving behind him at an alarming speed. Jet turned around and met the figure's blade with his own. Upon meeting the impact, the figure retreated back. Jet went after it, and the figure struck out again with its bladed weapons, this time in a total frenzy.

Jet blocked each of the figure's blows as it came, and then made a slash with his sword. It was meant to disarm the individual of whatever weapon he was holding, but then he heard the figure let out a shrill cry…

Jet looked down. A large, metal object that resembled the blades on his twin hook swords fell to the ground, covered in blood…

He turned around to face his attacker. What he was greeted with was a horrific caricature of himself. It wore the same clothing he did, but its eyes were blood-shot, as well as being a sickly yellow instead of his brown. Its limbs were also lankier, and it took to bending its knees whenever it moved. But the most bizarre feature of all where how it's twin hook blades replaced its hands…and Jet had cut one off.

The creature gave him a look of absolute contempt before running at him in a frenzy once more. Jet side-stepped out of the way as it swung its remaining sword-arm at him. As Jet dodged, he could also see the doppelganger had an iron clamp around its neck attached to a chain, as some crude kind of leash. The doppelganger attempted to run at him again, but the "leash" stopped it. Jet looked out. Holding the chain, was Long Feng, his killer. He returned Jet's gaze and smirked. Then, opening his other hand, he let the chain drop, and the doppelganger ran at Jet…

Jet was woken up from his bizarre nightmare and opened his eyes to be greeted by the same gray world. He hadn't thought the dead had dreams…then he realized he felt…warmer. He turned and was surprised to see that Yue had, perhaps subconsciously, drawn closer to him, her head now resting on his chest. But, as Jet shifted his weight slightly, she suddenly opened her eyes and realized what she'd done. She looked up at him, her blue eyes looking confused, and uncertain. He returned her uncertain gaze, and for a minute the two just lied there, completely still.

"I'm sorry, I didn't—"

"Shh…it's OK."

Almost instinctively, the two closed their eyes once again, and moved closer to one another…

Their lips touched, lightly at first, but then with more passion. Jet's tongue began exploring the insides of her mouth. Yue's cheeks grew hot as she returned his passion.

Their kiss sealed their fates. When they opened their eyes again, they were no longer in the gray limbo, but true paradise. They looked at each-other once more, smiles now on both of their faces, and kissed once more.

And so the Freedom Fighter and the Water Tribe Princess turned Moon Spirit found eternal peace. Jet didn't know what happened to Longshot and Smellerbee, nor did Yue know what happened to Sokka. But when those three joined them, it was a happy day. For they told them that the Avatar had indeed prevailed over the Fire Lord, and peace had long since been achieved. Smellerbee and Longshot had found happiness with each-other, and Sokka had married another woman from the Earth Kingdom. And for Jet, the knowledge that his sacrifice meant something, the knowledge that he had not died in vain…

He had never been so at peace in his life.

Author's Note: Phew! That was a long one. Jet sure does like his Water Tribe girls huh? Now, random as this one was, I still really enjoyed writing it. In fact, it might be my favorite one thus far…

Please Read and review!


	8. Unseen, Unmoved

Unseen, unmoved

Author's Note: This was a request/demand that was made of me. It took me a while to get around to this, and even longer to finish it, but at long last, here we are. Time Period is in-between the Western Air Temple and the Southern Raiders episodes. Take your pick on when exactly. Special thanks to a friend of mine for giving me the idea of how to finish this one.

CRACK!

Toph scooped up the nut she'd just broken open in a rather…special way and put it in her mouth. Already as she was swallowing it, she set another nut down, and brought Aang's staff down on it. And she wasn't gentle either. Another loud crack rang out that somehow went unheard by anyone else.

This continued for a little while longer, with Toph using the staff Aang had received to replace his old one to break open the nuts that had been conveniently stored in a compartment in the staff. Soon though, she was down to the last two nuts.

_Huh. Gone so soon… _Toph thought as she was about to bring the staff down again when a pleasant young voice rang out and stopped her.

"You know he doesn't like it when you do that."

Someone else was there. Toph felt confused. Why didn't she feel the person's vibrations in the earth when he moved? Then she realized why, and mentally kicked herself for not recognizing him from the get-go by voice alone.

"Is that you? Uh…"

"Teo. Yeah."

"Oh. Hey."

Toph's blindness ensured that she had no idea what Teo looked like. She could only identify him by voice alone, and also by the fact that he was crippled, and therefore, she couldn't sense his movement by vibrations, since he caused none. His voice rang out again.

"My dad built that staff"

"Yeah. It's a nice nutcracker."

"I can see that. But he doesn't—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Toph brought the staff down once more and helped herself to the cracked open nut. Teo quickly got the message that Toph didn't care about Aang's feelings on her making a nut-cracker out of his staff. Again. So, he decided to change topics.

"So…you're the Avatar—Aang's earthbending teacher right?"

"Yeah. Why?" She sounded a little put-out, as if she didn't want Teo there for some reason.

"…It's just I figured from all those awesome Earthbending moves I saw you do during the Eclipse and all…" Teo trailed off, and then remarked, more softly: "…Sure would have been nice if I was a bender. But, then again, with _my_ situation, I don't think it would have mattered…"

Toph suddenly felt a pang of sadness for him. And she could sympathize with him more then he realized. Her feet, after all, where the only thing that ensured she wasn't completely blind, so she needed them even more then a normal person did. She could only imagine herself in Teo's position, confined to his father's little invention for life...She decided then to get off the topic.

"Aang mentioned you…didn't you do a picture of him in the clouds or something like that?"

Teo grinned as he fondly remembered his little stunt, not to mention the look on Aang's face afterwards. It matched his illustration perfectly.

"Yeah…something like that…"

There was silence once before another loud crack rang out and Toph ate the last nut. Teo, unable to help his curiosity, asked:

"Now, I don't mean to be rude when I ask this, I'm just curious that's all…how do you see if you're blind?"

Toph didn't respond to that. Then, she mumbled: "I get that a lot. Let's just say the answer has to do with my earthbending. I "see" by feeling the vibrations in the earth."

"Cool. It's like a sort of "radar sense"

"Yeah, I guess so…there is a downside though. I need to be under some kind of Earth to see. Otherwise, I AM blind. So I don't like flying for that reason…among others."

Teo, having found a passion in flying, felt a little sad to hear that Toph wasn't into it. Then an idea came into his head.  
"I could help"

"Help with _what_ exactly?" Skepticism dripped off of every word.

"I can help with your flying-phobia. You can come fly with me. Be my passenger."

"And _why _would I do that?"

Teo shrugged. "I don't know. Because I asked you to I guess. That…and it might help for when we launch our big attack on the Fire Nation. Definitely going to be a lot of flying involved with that…"

Toph felt her stomach turn at the idea of having to fly constantly, and in a stressful end-of-the-world scenario, no less. She heaved a deep heavy sigh.

"All right flyboy. Let's get this over with."

That wasn't exactly the answer Teo had been hoping for. Still, beggars couldn't be choosers, so he turned his wheelchair and motioned for Toph to come over and get on, despite the fact that she couldn't see. Toph plodded over to him and got on the glider, squeezing herself behind him. From this short distance, Teo could see Toph's face up close, and blindness or not, she was pretty.

"You're going to want to hold on as tight as possible…"

"Do your worst."

Teo grinned. "All right. But don't say I didn't warn you…"

Teo pulled a lever on his wheelchair and out came the glider piece. Teo drove forward off the edge. Toph could feel the wind brush against her face more quickly and then…

They plummeted. But just when Toph grew nervous that they would smash into the rocks below, Teo, with some deft maneuvering, sent the wheelchair gliding off. Toph felt as though her heart would leap out of her chest.

"OK. I think I've had enough."

"Aw come on, we just started."

To Toph's continued horror, Teo continued their flight, soaring through the air. He seemed to be pulling as many fancy aerial maneuvers as he possibly could, which irritated Toph even further. What had possessed her to say yes to this?

Teo swerved the glider drastically. Toph's heart skipped a beat. Then, things went straight for a while, before Teo suddenly made a spiral maneuver in the air.

"Dammit, stop that!"

"Sorry. I'll try and take it easy from now on."

Toph clenched her eyes shut even harder, if that was even possible, but no longer felt Teo swerve the glider around dramatically. No more tricks. He just flew straight. Toph breathed a sigh of relief, but kept her eyes closed. After another minute or so, they were still flying smoothly. Finally, Toph decided to, _**slowly **_open her eyes but then, realized it made no difference, since she couldn't see.

But then she realized something. She felt her arms around Teo's waist. She had done it instinctively, during the twists and turns, and only now did she realize it. It felt…well, she wasn't entirely sure how she felt, just that she knew she felt more…comfortable now. She was dare she say it, calm now, something she had never truly felt before when her feet weren't on solid ground. Oh, she'd flown on Appa plenty of times before, but it was never something she had grown fully accustomed to. This on the other hand…

They continued on for as was for a few more minutes before Teo at last turned around and set the glider down. It took Toph a second or two, but she was ultimately able to bring herself to get off the glider and set her feet on the ground. Part of her was relieved to be back on solid ground again, but to her surprise, the other part of her had kind of grown used to being in the air…

"So, what did you think?"

Toph surprised herself even more then Teo when she gave him her honest answer:

"I…liked it. Thanks."

After recovering from his mild surprise, Teo replied: "Don't mention it. I always enjoy soaring through the air. And it was nice having someone be with me for a change."

Toph almost felt like blushing at that. But she contained it. Instead, she walked over to where Aang's staff was, and picked it up.

"I'd better put this back."

"Yeah."

And with that simple little exchange, the two parted ways. But they held the memories for the whole day.

Toph would go flying with Teo several times after that first day. And through it all, they also got to know each-other better. After all, both had physical handicaps that they had overcome in unique ways. It seemed like an ideal friendship. Until it started becoming something more.

She found her heart skip a beat whenever she heard him call out to her. She always clung to him when they went flying, even when she felt she no longer needed to. Whenever he laughed or made a joke she would break into a grin. She didn't mind spending more and more time around him…

Then it happens. The Fire Nation discover the Western Air Temple. It's absolute chaos. The group gets split in the process, Toph going with Aang, Zuko, Sokka, Katara, and Suki, while Teo, Hakoda, and the others take a different route.

Now, Toph's not afraid of any firebenders. She'd knock their lights out most likely, but Teo…Toph wants him to survive. More then any of the others. Even Katara and Aang. And that's when she realizes…

"I love you Teo."

Author's Note: And there you go! Sorry if that ending came off as a bit rushed, but I did my best. Please read and review!


	9. Mad Love

Author's Note: This is more of a "Joke" couple. A little late for Valentine's Day, but hey, at least I actually got it done. Enjoy!

Azula's yellow eyes stared blankly at the steel wall of her cell for minutes on end, with no aim or purpose. She was bound in a straight-jacket that kept her firebending from being used to free herself, her hair was unkempt and locks of it were in her face. Deep within what precious little remained of her mind, thoughts of anger, hatred, and revenge ran rampant.

_My downfall…not my fault…Zuko's fault…him and the AVATAR….I will kill them…_

Azula's thoughts turned into an audible expression of fury.

"I WILL kill the Avatar and Zuko!"

Azula began thrashing around violently trying to tear herself free from her straight-jacket to no avail. Further enraged at her failure to break herself free, she screamed in fury. Tears began to escape her eyes…

Then, out of nowhere, she heard what sounded like…laughter. Slow, cold, laughter that was not joyful and happy, but humorless and cruel. A lot like her own laughter was…only this laugh came from a male.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha….ooh…that's a good one."

Azula whipped around to the source of the voice.

"What? Who was that! Where are you!"

"Heh, heh…" take it easy there toots. You might burst a blood vessel…"

"SHOW YOURSELF!"

Azula watched the figure come out of the shadows and into view. She found herself taken a- back by what she was greeted with. The figure was indeed a male, but his skin was chalk white, his hair was a sickly green color, and his lips were red, and stretched into a grin. And in his eyes, much like her own, there was nothing but madness. But his was a different kind of madness, more scheming and cunning then her raw insanity.

"Who…what are you? How..how did you get in here?"

"Hm…well, it depends. As to how I got here, well, you might say I was drawn here…by you."

"Wh…what?"

"Oh yes, you're the reason I'm here. Your flattered I'm sure. You see, the fact is, you and I are kindred spirits. We both see the grand stage the world is, and how everything is all one big JOKE!"

"What?"

"Oh come on now! You know what I'm talking about! It's a joke! Life is a joke! And WE deliver the punch line!"

"And…what is…that?" Azula hadn't talked to another person in so long and had been lost in the throes of her madness for so long, that her speech had gotten a little rusty. The grinning man leaned closer to her and said, in a whisper…

"Death" And with that, he broke into a fit of hysterical maniacal laughter. He sounded like a Hyena-Fox that had gone rabid, but she found that this did not disturb her. If anything, she found herself further…intrigued by this grinning man, this…laughing maniac. Eventually, the madman recovered from his fir of laughter and said, now a bit more calmly:

"The point is, I'm a little crazy. Or a lot crazy depending on your point of view. Heh, heh…"

"People seem to think I'm crazy too…and maybe I am. I…I used to be…a princess. I had an army, power…"

"Hmm…sounds like fun…then again, I wouldn't know…I've always preferred the company of a few like-minded individuals to armies of goons, but to each his own right? Heh, heh…"

"But I…I was betrayed by my brother…he…him and his friends attacked me, and locked me up in here."

"Ah well, that's too bad. Like I said, it's all a joke! You need to get out of here, and show them that! Deliver the punch-line my dear!"

"You…you think I can?"  
"Ha ha! Oh yes, it's no joke. I've seen you in action. You've got the edge my dear, all you need is your chance to be on the stage!"

"But I'm trapped in here…"

"Ah come on, I've been locked up numerous times, and I've always gotten out! You just need some determination…heh."

"Yes…I will get out…and when I do, my brother will burn! They will ALL burn!"

"HA! HA! Now _that's_ the spirit!"

"Thank you…"

"Oh, don't mention it. Always nice to put a smile on someone's face."

"Yes…my friend used to be able to do that…before she betrayed me. I'll burn her too…slowly."

"HA! HA! Ooh, you catch on quick. OK kiddo. I've gotta go now. It's been fun though right?"

Azula didn't respond to that. She had become too accustomed to the grinning man's company. He couldn't leave her now!

"…Well, maybe a smidge more fun for me then you, I'm just guessing since you've been awfully quiet…anyway, be a good girl, finish your homework, and be in bed by nine. And hey! Please tell this "avatar" of yours I said…hello."

And with that, the grinning man burst into demented laughter once more, Azula found herself despairing.

"NO! Please don't go!" Azula lunged forward to where the grinning man was and collided face-first with the floor. As the world went black, she could still hear his laughter…

When she came to, she found that the laughter was gone, and she could no longer see the grinning man anywhere. Where had he gone? Why did he have to leave her? Why did everyone always leave her…?

"Why must I be alone?"

Author's Note: And that's the end of that! I guess you could call it a crossover. But come on, those two are such a perfect couple. The Joker's last line is taken from Batman: Under the Red Hood with a few changes. I couldn't help it. I loved that movie.


	10. Submission

**Author's Note: This will be the last one-shot couple before I begin my main feature, which will run for several chapters. Unless of course, you make more requests in your reviews…Enjoy! And thanks to those who have submitted reviews! Slight AU here.**

"Why not?"

That was the question she had asked him as they found their faces inches apart from one another, on this jagged treacherous mountain, underneath a full moon. He'd claimed he couldn't go through with it. So now she asked him why.

"I...just can't."

"Don't you like me? Don't you care about me?"

"Well, yes, but…I…" He found he could no longer give a good answer. So he just went for it. Their lips touched lightly at first, but gradually with more passion. He gripped her tighter to him as they pressed their lips against one another even more. Finally, they broke it, if only just so they could take in air. He found himself in confusion, and uncertainty. He loved her, he could no longer deny that, but he still held love for the woman he had failed to protect. The one who now resided in the moon. He still thought about her. Still missed her. But she was no longer his, was she? And to be fair, their relationship had never had a chance to begin with. And yet if anything, that only made his love for her stronger. But here was another woman who loved him. Was he going to deny himself this?

He decided that he would not. And so the two kissed again. They were both so full of passion, and now that he had submitted to his desires, there was nothing left to stop him from fully embracing this beautiful girl.

But another figure watched. Watched him, watched the whole world actually, but was now especially focused on him. She focused her sad blue eyes on him and saw as he embraced that other woman. She felt a swirl of emotions, namely hurt. A part of her told her that their romance would never have worked. And it also reminded her that she belonged to the ocean spirit now. If anything, she should have been happy for him that he had now found someone else.

_And forgotten about me…_

No, that was a lie. He hadn't forgotten about her. He'd just moved on. Found someone else to be with. She couldn't really hold that against him, could she?

And yet, none of this stopped her eyes from filling with water at the sight of those two together, sharing a kiss on the Serpent's Pass…

And she, the Moon Spirit, knew that she would bear witness to their love, every month, for the rest of their lives…

**Author's Note: And that's that! Sad huh? Next stop: Jet and June!**


	11. The Renegades Part 1: Discovery

**Author's Note: And here we go! I've been wanting to do this for a while. This is what REALLY happened after Lake Laogai. **

"Hurry up Nyla. I don't want to stay in one place for too long."

June's Shirshu didn't acknowledge her. Instead, it kept drinking from the stream, greedily slurping down as much water as it could.

June sighed. Nyla had the annoying tendency to occasionally over-indulge whenever they where stopping for a rest. She didn't like letting Nyla drink as much she liked for as long as she liked, but she also had no intent on bothering her baby. At least not yet.

Business for June had grown bad since the fall of Omashu. With Ba Sing Sae as the only safe haven left on Earth (unless you counted the Northern Water Tribe), people everywhere where in a panic. It also severely limited the number of potential clients. So, she decided her best bet would be to go to where most people were now: Ba Sing Sae. Most got there by boat, but June had opted to take the longer route. So perhaps then it wasn't surprising that Nyla was tired and wanted to rest.

Then June saw something out of the corner of her eye. Two young people were carrying a young man out of…well, truth be told, what looked like a tunnel leading somewhere underground. The two set the young man down, and one of them, a girl (or was it a boy? It was hard to tell) kneeled down to inspect him. It didn't take a genius to know the poor bastard was probably injured. Part of her was continually asking why she would even care. But the other part of her, and that was her curiosity, wanted to get a closer look. She turned to Nyla.

"All right Nyla, drink's over now. And this time I mean it."

Nyla took her head out of the water and plodded over to her master. June got on board and directed Nyla to where the three where. Upon seeing her come, the boy drew an arrow and aimed it dead at Nyla's head. The other one, who June could now clearly tell was a girl took out a kukri dagger and bared it. June sighed. These kids obviously didn't want to be bothered. And yet…

"Relax, I'm not here to hurt you. Who's your friend?" 

"He's our leader!" the girl said fiercely, clearly showing how upset she really was. "And he's dying!"

That took June off guard. The man's injuries were more serious then she'd thought. It was against her better judgment, but she decided to play Good Samaritan for once.

"I can help you. Let me take him to the city. I know someone who can help him. And that person owes me a favor anyway, so he'll do it for free."

"No! How we do even know we can trust you? You—"

The boy put a hand on the girl's shoulder and looked at her hard. There was some kind of wordless exchange between the two, but June couldn't quite make it out. She decided to point out the obvious:

"Every second you two spend staring at one another, his chances get lower."

The two turned back around to face her.

"All right fine. Take him. But _we're_ coming with you."

June sighed. She didn't want to be these kid's babysitter. But it was also clear that they weren't going to let this go, so she caved in.

"All right. But you're going to have to keep up with Nyla."


	12. The Renegades Part 2: First Meeting

Jet awoke with a start, his eyes taking in the room that was slowly coming back into focus. Finally, as the scene began to take form, he could see that he was in some kind of infirmary. As he tried to get up, a fierce pain shot through his body, emanating from his chest area.

_Dammit._

Jet remembered how his chest had been crushed by Long Feng's Earthbending. He was actually a little surprised he was still alive. Longshot and Smellerbee must have gotten him help in time. He smirked. He should have known he could trust his two best freedom fighters.

Then he realized: where were Longshot and Smellerbee? He would have expected the two to be hovering over his bedside waiting for him to wake up. Guess not. Then again, he probably preferred not waking up to that. He surveyed the infirmary. His cot was at the far right end, and there were four others next to it. All of which were unoccupied. He turned to see that his twin hook swords and his clothes lied near his cot. He was still in too much pain to get out of the cot, so he just laid there, waiting for his damn chest wound to heal so he could get back on his feet. Well, in the meantime, he could just wait for Longshot and Smellerbee.

And so he sat there for close to ten minutes. The pain in his chest did not go away, and, disturbingly, Longshot and Smellerbee where still nowhere to be found. Jet began to grow uneasy. Where were they? They must have made it out of Lake Laogai, otherwise he wouldn't be here. So what was it then? Attempting to get up only sent another spike of pain to emerge from his chest and he collapsed once more.

"_This isn't good…"_

"Don't try to get up yet."

Jet turned his gaze to see a young woman standing in the doorway to the infirmary, looking at him. She looked to be around Jet's age, though she was probably a few years older. She wore some kind of black outfit, and there were tattoos on both of her shoulders that looked like a red snake. Her black hair went down to her shoulders and was capped with a top knot. Her skin also looked somewhat pale, but if anything, that only made her even more attractive. Jet's eyes widened a little bit.

_Damn. Didn't think I'd be seeing an angel. Maybe I really am dead…_

"Seen enough?"

"What? Oh, uh..."

She smiled, and looked even prettier when she did. Then Jet heard another voice.

"I gotta say kiddo, you proved to be the big highlight of _my_ career."

Out stepped a man who was clearly some kind of doctor, at least judging by the clothes he wore. His features were worn, his hair was closely-cropped, and his hard gray eyes looked at Jet as he continued:

"This was unlike anything I have ever done in the seven years I've been at this. Your upper ribs, muscles, chest bones, almost everything was either fractured, or broken. It's a good thing June got you here when she did. You didn't have much longer."

"Thanks…but…."

"Surprised that a non-bender such as myself saved your ass? Well, there are some things a trained surgeon can do that water-bending can't. And I happen to be a damn good surgeon. Like I said, you made my career."

"What's your name?"

"Quan. At least that's the alias all of my patients use. Truth be told, I prefer to remain anonymous."

"Yeah…wait. I had two friends with me. A little girl with er…armor and red whiskers painted on her face and a tall lanky guy with a bow and arrows and a big hat. Where are they?"

"Oh yes, those two. Eh…perhaps June should tell you."

"The girl didn't trust me, and when Quan here had to uh…operate on you, she had a breakdown. Mr. Tall, dark, and silent took her out. They still haven't come back, and I don't know where they are."

"Find them…please."

"Yeah…look. I hate to break your heart handsome, but I'm not a babysitter. I'm sure they'll be back soon…"

"Please find them. I've almost lost them twice now. Please don't make me go through this a third time…"

June thought about it. She was a mercenary at heart, not usually doing anything unless it yielded a reward. And she definitely didn't like the idea of hunting after a pair of kids for a guy lying on a cot with a bandaged up chest. And yet…

June wasn't completely heartless. The poor sap looked like he'd seen his share of pain over the years. And if these two kids really meant so much to him…maybe she could be a good Samaritan a little longer…

"All right, uh…I'm sorry, I never did get your name."

"Jet."


	13. The Renegades Part 3: Unwelcome company

**Author's Note: Here's Part 3. This is a somewhat violent chapter. You've been warned.**

Jet lied waiting for June to come back with Longshot and Smellerbee. As he did, he found himself wondering over and over:

"_What now?"_

What now…well, he wasn't going to be doing much for a while, not until his injuries healed fully. But what would he do after that? He didn't know…when he, Longshot, and Smellerbee had first come to Ba Sing Sae, he had promised them that he was planning to start fresh, but it had been a lie. He just couldn't get over his own prejudice and his desire for revenge, and it had almost cost him his life in the end. But now that he'd gotten a second, no _third_ chance, he wasn't going to waste it. He was really going to start anew this time. He would do right by his friends. But if only they could come back…

There was a knock. A rather loud one. Jet's hopes were raised. They'd finally come back. He thought of how the three of them could now live in the city together in peace. He wondered what they would do for jobs, but figured that they could think of something. What mattered was that they could finally put all of the revenge and hate behind them…

Another knock. It sounded a lot louder then necessary. Quan walked over to open the door.

"All right, all right, hold your ostrich-horses!"

Quan walked over and was all set to open the door when it was blasted down. In stepped a couple of Dai Lee agents. Jet's blood froze. He knew without a doubt that they were looking for him. Quan didn't know that though.

"What the hell is going on? What are you doing—?"

With one swift, brutal earthbending move, Quan was blasted back. He went flying before crashing to the ground, where he laid still. The Dai Lee agent didn't so much as flinch. Jet knew he was in serious trouble. In his current condition he was as good as dead against those Dai Lee agents. But no…he'd come so close at Lake Laogai. He'd cheated death. He couldn't let these bastards kill him while he was lying incapacitated in a hospital bed. As the Dai Lee agents moved in, Jet used every ounce of strength he had to roll off the side of the bed and take cover behind it. His chest felt like it had lit on fire. Jet smothered a scream of agony and grabbed his twin hook swords. Perhaps subconsciously he knew that his efforts were futile, but he couldn't help it. He refused to just lie down and die…

As one of the Dai Lee agents advanced to where Jet was hiding, an arrow whizzed by and struck the Dai Lee agent in the back. The agent whipped around upon being shot to see another arrow was heading his way. Raising some earth in front of him, he blocked the arrow. Jet watched the other agent turn to face the attackers when a bull-whip struck him across the face. The Dai Lee agent recoiled in pain from the blow, covering his bleeding face with his hands. June moved in and tripped the agent with her whip. The agent retaliated by firing some rocks at her but she easily side-stepped to avoid them and whipped him again. The other Dai Lee agent was all set to intervene when Longshot fired another arrow at him while he was distracted.

Now quite enraged at being shot twice, the Dai Lee agent turned his attention fully to Longshot, but before he could attack him, Jet hooked his twin hook swords together and slashed at the Dai Lee Agent's back. Now the agent was bleeding heavily from the back area, and clearly overwhelmed by being attacked from all sides. June took advantage of that confusion by lassoing the agent's throat. The Dai Lee agent grasped for air, trying to get the whip off of his neck. Smellerbee and Longshot tackled the Dai Lee agent together to force him to the ground, and Smellerbee punched him as fast and hard as he could until he was out cold.

June took the whip off of the Dai Lee agent's throat and put it away.

"You've certainly got a tough edge sister…"  
"I trained em' well…"

Jet staggered out from behind his cover at that moment. His chest felt like it was going to come apart at any moment. Nevertheless, he held in, and did his best to keep up his cocky grin.

"Glad to have you guys back—"

Jet was cut off by Smellerbee practically pouncing on Jet as she hugged him as hard as she could. Jet returned the hug, before Smellerbee finally eased up a bit.

"Jet, it's so good to see you up again. When that guy was…"

"Relax Smellerbee. I'm fine. My chest has never hurt more, but I'm still alive." He turned to June.

"Thanks for finding them, and for saving my life…twice."

June smirked. "Don't expect it to become a regular occurrence. You're cute, but not that cute. Where's Quan?"

Jet's expression turned grim.

"Quan's dead, I—"

There was a loud groan. Everyone turned. Quan stumbled forward, bleeding heavily, but still standing.

"Quan, I thought—"

"You thought wrong kid. I've been roughed up by these punks before, but they haven't broken me yet…"

Quan groaned loudly after finishing his sentence. Despite still being alive, it was clear that he was still in a lot of pain. Jet was too. Longshot and Smellerbee helped Jet back onto his cot. Jet turned to Quan, who was trying to tend to his own wounds.

"How long am I going to be stuck here?"

"Depends boy. You really shouldn't have gotten out of the cot and pulled off those reckless moves. My handiwork wasn't undone, but I think that you're going to be bedridden for a while."

"How long?"

"Don't know. A few weeks most likely."

"A FEW WEEKS! But what about the Dai Lee? What if they come looking for me again?"

"Not to worry. I'm sure June will dispose of the bodies. June?"

"It's going to cost you Quan…"

"Yes, yes. I'll pay you the usual. (Bloody parasite…)"

As June hog-tied the two Dai Lee agents and piled them on Nyla, Jet called out to her:

"Thanks. Hope I can see you again."

June turned back to him and smiled at him.

"Don't push your luck"

And with that, June got on Nyla, and left Jet and his freedom fighters behind…

**Author's Note: Don't worry. The JetxJune isn't over yet. You'll see…**

**The next few chapters will see the guest appearances of a few characters from the show…**


	14. The Renegades Part 4: Reunion

Reunion

Jet, Longshot, and Smellerbee did not see June again. They spent several more days in the infirmary, as Jet and Quan both waited for their respective wounds to heal. All the while, Jet, and his two freedom fighters made plans for their new lives in Ba Sing Sae, their optimism increased upon hearing the news of Long Feng's downfall and the Earth King's eyes being opened to the war happening right in front of him.

But then things took a turn for the absolute worst. Somehow, Fire Nation forces infiltrated the city, and using the Dai Lee, took over. Ba Sing Sae fell, and worst of all, the Avatar was purportedly killed. With their world having fallen apart once more, Longshot, Smellerbee, and a still somewhat injured Jet fled the city before the Fire Nation forces arrived and kept everyone locked in. Using some…"borrowed" Ostrich-Horses, they went in the direction of the forest, hoping that the route was still safe…

They didn't know how long they ran. Long enough to cause the ostrich-horses to collapse from exhaustion. Abandoning the animals, the three freedom fighters fled into the woods lining the path. Jet laid down to regain his strength. Anger and rage coursed through every bone in his body.

"I can't believe this…that was it. That was the last place on Earth where people would be safe from the Fire Nation…AND THOSE ANIMALS TOOK IT!" Jet punched a nearby tree in frustration.

"When will it end? When will they stop taking everything that isn't theirs? Hurting everyone that isn't them? When can people be left alone? Argh! What am I saying? They'll never stop. They'll never stop until everyone else is dead or in chains…"

"Jet, please…"

He turned to face Smellerbee, who had a pleading look on her face.

"Please, I know you're angry, we all are. I want to hurt them as much as you do, but…please…don't start all of this again…"

Jet went silent. As it was, that was actually what he was thinking about doing. Returning to his own little war against the Fire Nation. A more cynical side of him asked the rest of him why he would even bother. Ba Sing Sae had fallen, Aang was dead…the Fire Nation had obviously won. Perhaps he would continue on just so he could be a spit in their face. But then he remembered his previous promise, and how this was his third chance now…

He sighed. He had to keep his word. "Alright Smellerbee. I won't cause anymore trouble. I promise."

Smellerbee smiled slightly. Jet staggered to his feet. As he kept moving with Longshot and Smellerbee, he mused over how he used to have an entire gang, no, an army, of freedom fighters, but was now with just his two most loyal…Things had fallen apart after their meeting with Aang, Sokka, and Katara. After his downfall, the group ultimately disbanded, with Jet again promising to start fresh. Most of the gang went one way, while a handful went in separate directions. Those included The Duke and Pipsqueak, who disappeared together, and Sneers, who disappeared alone. By the end of it all, only Longshot and Smellerbee remained. Jet realized that after everything he'd been through with those two, they had become more then just fellow freedom fighters; they were completely inseparable. They were almost like children to him. And he could also see that for Longshot and Smellerbee, it was becoming even more then that. He smiled. It was good that those two could be together eventually…too bad the same couldn't be said of him and Katara. Well, they had never had a chance. He couldn't get over his prejudice in time, and she couldn't forgive him for his previous actions in time…

But then he thought about June…now she was something different. In some ways, Jet thought, she was Katara's opposite. Katara was always so compassionate and willing to help, something he had previously taken advantage of, whereas June didn't often do anything without being paid first. Helping him had been an exception. But why had she made it? Now that was the question…

As the three kept walking though, they heard someone, or something approach. They took cover, and sure enough, a pair of Fire Nation soldiers on Komodo Rhinos came riding up, apparently looking for people who had managed to escape from Ba Sing Sae. People like Jet and his freedom fighters.

The trio stayed behind cover, and the two soldiers didn't notice them…but Jet saw that they had found a pair of people, who they had chained and hauled onto the Komodo rhinos to be taken back to the city. Jet's blood boiled at seeing those people captive and about to be dragged back to what had gone from being a safe haven to another Fire Nation prison. And in his fury, he became a bit audacious…

Leaping out, twin hook swords in hand, Jet went flying right at one of the soldiers, kicking him off of his mount. That agitated the beast, and it spun around to whack at Jet with its tail before charging forward. Jet got back to his feet and had to roll to one side to avoid the blast of fire that came his way. Great, one of them was a firebender. He hadn't counted on that…

The firebender launched another blast of fire. Once again, Jet moved out of the way of the shot, and tried to think of some kind of plan…

The other soldier's rhino tackled him to the ground. Jet rolled to keep it from trampling him, but now he was in a tight spot, and worse still, the firebender was preparing to blast at him again…

The firebender was struck in the back by what looked like a long tongue. He winced and gave a cry of pain before slumping over his mount, stunned. Jet watched as none other then June rode forward on her…whatever it was, and stunned the Komodo rhino attacking Jet in a similar fashion. Granted, the beast was hardier then the Firebender, so it took a few more licks before it slumped down.

Jet staggered back up to his feet to look at June. She didn't exactly look happy to see him.

"Well…looks like I did get to see you again huh?"

June glowered at him. "Three times. That's three times I've had to save your dumb ass. You're a real glutton for punishment aren't you?"

Jet grinned.

"I do my best beautiful."

"Ugh. I don't suppose you have any good reason for pulling that little stunt?"

"Actually I do. It was to free those people…"

Jet went over to said people and cut their bindings with his swords and sent them off on their way before turning back to June. She looked at him hard and remorselessly. Jet decided to come clean:

"All right, look: Yes, you have saved my life three times. And for that, I thank you. But…my freedom fighters and I don't have anywhere to go now. Nowhere. But you…I…kind of enjoy your company, so…"

"Cut to the chase Jet. What is it?"

"You wouldn't be willing to include some additions to your…business would you?"

She grinned at him. "Nice try pretty boy, but it's just me and my Nyla…"

"Consider it payment for all the times you saved my life…"

June went silent for a moment, now a bit more contemplative. Jet found himself more anxious then he thought he would be to get her answer. He _really_ wanted to be with her, for some reason…

Finally, she him her answer:

"It's a deal."

June outstretched a hand, and Jet took it.

"Welcome to the fine art of Bounty hunting handsome"

**Author's Note: And there we go! Things take a turn for the worse next chapter, so be prepared!**


	15. The Renegades Part 5: First Fight

**Author's Note: Here's the longest chapter thus far. Also the darkest. Definitely earns its T rating, but, I still hope you all enjoy. **

First Fight

The group of Jet, June, Longshot, and Smellerbee kept going on the trail that they had both been following previously, only now together. After their previous scuffle with the Fire Nation soldiers, they opted to lie low and play it safe, but they had no more encounters with anyone, Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom. Eventually though, they arrived at an outpost that seemed occupied but it was hard to tell by who. June turned to Jet and his freedom fighters.

"Alright, Jet, you and your friends stay put. I'm going to check to see who's in there and see if I can't get us a job."

"June are you sure that's—"

But before Jet could even finish, June was already off. Jet felt like going out to confront her but knew that no good would come of it. And so, he, Longshot, and Smellerbee chose to stay hidden. They waited for what felt like close to 20 minutes before June came back. Jet asked her what had happened.

"I just got us a job. We're going after someone those people want."

"Who?"

"They were a little vague when it came to details. All you really need to know is that this person is worth an indecent amount of money to those people, and is furthermore easy to find, so we're going after him."

"Sure…how exactly are we supposed to find this person?"

"My shirshu can find the person based on his scent. Those people gave me something he'd dropped when he was fleeing that has his scent on it. With that, Nyla here will be able to track him. Make sense?"

"Yeah, I think so…"

"Good. Then we're moving now."

-X-

It hadn't taken them long to find their target. Even with an ostrich-horse, the man's speed was modest at best. The group caught up with him quickly, and found him riding to the far outskirts. The man was apparently either too desperate or too stupid to realize that that route led to the Great Divide, which for him, would be a dead end.

When the man saw the shirshu with four people atop it heading his way, he panicked, and forced his mount to quicken its pace. The animal ran as fast it could, but the Shirshu was faster. It let loose with its stinging tongue. It missed the first time, but the second time, it struck one of the Ostrich-Horse's legs, causing it to slow down considerably. Desperate, the man urged his mount to keep going, but to no avail. Nyla struck out again, and this time, the Ostrich-Horse collapsed completely, and the man was dismounted. Still determined to escape, he scrambled on all fours only for an arrow to land inches away from his head. He whipped around and saw his pursuers standing over him, with the archer aiming his bow at him to discourage any further escape attempts. Another lash of Nyla's tongue was all it took after that.

-X-

The group arrived with their captive in tow. They were unable to bring the ostrich-horse, obviously, but they had what they'd come for. Upon returning, June told Jet, Longshot, and Smellerbee to wait for her.

"Why?"

"Just trust me on this OK?"

"But June…"

"Jet…please."

Jet sighed. "Alright June, fine."

June nodded. She walked over to the front of the cottage that was in the center of the outpost. It was only then did Jet notice the insignias on the flags…

The door opened and Jet saw none other than several Fire Nation officers where inside. His stomach knotted up at the sight; he already knew what this meant. He could overhear what they were saying:

"Excellent work my dear. Colonel Ji here could have caused considerable trouble for us had he been allowed to escape from Ba Sing Sae, but now that he is safely back in our custody, I don't think he'll be causing us any problems…"

June nodded in agreement and then asked for her pay. Jet felt an intense fury build up inside of him as the men gave her a box that was no doubt filled with quite a bit of gold and silver pieces. He felt used beyond belief. She'd lied to him, in a sense, and while he had certainly been guilty of the same thing, he was still angry that she would do this…

She came back, and it was all he could do to contain his anger at her. They left, heading on the same path as before. As they did, Jet took a long look back at the now Fire Nation outpost, and found himself wondering what they would do "Colonel Ji"

Whatever it was, he doubted that it would be pleasant…

-X-

They'd travelled for a while now, and where now stopping to make camp for the night. June was going through the hefty amount of money she had gotten from her latest job, as Jet sat nearby, finishing up the last of his food and keeping his twin hook swords and hunting knife clean. June shot a quick glance at him and then, curious, put down the gold and silver pieces she was currently counting and walked over to him.

"What's wrong Jet?"

"I can't believe you June…"

"Can't believe what? Oh wait, let me guess: turning that poor sap in? That's bounty hunting kid. I would think you'd know that when you chose to join—"

Jet turned to her and glared. His response was venomous: "You know what I mean! You were working for the Fire Nation! You helped them capture one of their enemies! I…_they're_ the bad guys June…and you…worked for them…for money…"

"That's how business works Jet. I take jobs from whoever can pay. In the past I have been reluctant to work for them, but that's because of their…bad tempers more than anything else. But now that Ba Sing Sae is theirs, they're the only real clients I have now. And money is money."

"But don't you care what they're going to do to that guy? They'll probably imprison him…torture him…maybe even kill him…"

"Jet, if I took the time to worry about what my clients would do to all of their victims once I caught them, I would get a lot less customers. I don't like it, and I don't want to see it, but—"

"Is that all you care about? Your damn money? I…I can't believe this. I thought that after you'd helped me so many times, maybe there was some good in you, but…you're just a criminal. A mercenary only interested in how much money she can make and nothing else. You don't care about what happens to anyone but yourself! My village was destroyed by the Fire Nation! My parents were incinerated in front of me! But then again, why am I even wasting my breath on a callous person like you…?"

Jet's words struck June harder than anything else in her life. She tried to fight back the tears to no avail. She did manage to get her response out though:

"You self-righteous bastard…"

June took out her whip and struck out at Jet with it.

"HOW DARE YOU CONDEMN ME?"

Now Jet was furious. He grabbed his twin hook swords and lashed out at her with them. June side-stepped out of the way, and Jet swung at her again with one of his swords. June ducked under the blade and lashed out at him with her whip once more. Jet swung again, and once again, June was too quick. But when she prepared to strike him with her whip again, Jet was ready, and moved out of the way. June took a step in, cracking her whip again and again. Jet kept out of the way as best he could but still got injured by it from time to time. Each strike only furthered his rage though. He chained his twin hook swords together and spun them around, forcing June to take several steps back to dodge him.

Jet moved in, dodging to one side to avoid June's next strike before then swinging out with one of his swords. June hastily ducked to avoid it, and Jet severed her top knot. June glared at him with increased fury. Still blinking back tears, she struck out with her whip yet again, the strike aimed at Jet's head. He turned his face just in time so that it only grazed his cheek. It still hurt though. June struck out once more, only for Jet to meet it with one of his hook swords. Jet then tried to pull his sword back upon seeing that it had failed to cut the whip, but it hooked onto the whip as he pulled it back. Both he and June's struggling caused the whip to become tangled on the sword. The two struggled to free their respective weapons to no avail. Finally, they just threw them to the ground. June took that opportunity to tackle Jet as hard as she could. The two tumbled down the hill behind them. Getting back up first, June kicked Jet's other sword out of his hand and then kicked him back.

Jet staggered back up and got into a fighting stance. It had been a while since he'd done any serious fighting without his swords. And he didn't know how good June was either. But, as it was, he wasn't exactly thinking as clearly as he could be, still quite enraged. He kept his guard up as June landed a few punches and kicks, but he found that her blows weren't easy to block. She was good. Better than him most likely. Nevertheless, Jet stood his ground and finally attempted to land a punch, but it did him no good. June intercepted his fist and struck him in the stomach with her other fist, forcing him back. Jet tried to get back into his defensive stance, but by then, she managed to kick him again. Jet, getting a little desperate, attempted another punch only for her to grab his arm and throw him on his back with a maneuver he wasn't exactly familiar with. Jet tripped her with a sweep kick and then tried to get on top of her, but as he did so, she rolled over so that she was now on top of him. Then he rolled again, changing their positions back, where they struggled for a while longer before June forced him off and then tackled him back down, her hand how on his throat.

"What's going on?"

Jet and June both turned to face the source of the voice. It was Longshot. He didn't seem terribly fazed by what he was seeing , just curious. One of his hands was holding his bow though…

"What the hell are you doing here?" June snapped at him.

"Smellerbee and I heard noise. I came to check to see what was going on."

There was an awkward silence. June eased up her grip on Jet's throat as the two looked at each-other and then at Longshot again. Finally, June got off of Jet and he staggered back up.

"It was…uh…nothing. Nothing, just…June and I are fine, don't worry. Go get some sleep Longshot."

Longshot looked at his leader hard. Then at June, where his hard gaze became suspicious. Finally though, he nodded and left. Jet looked at June again one last time. She glared at him, and then stomped back up to the camp in a huff. Jet just stood there, alone, bruised, bleeding, and deep in thought over what had just happened. He'd just had one vicious fight with the woman that had saved his life three times. The woman he thought he had trusted as a decent person, but now…now he was just lost. Lost on what to think. After a while, he trudged off back to the camp, tended to his various injuries, and then finally went to get some rest…

_How many times had he had this nightmare? Ten? Twenty? A hundred times? It never changed. It was always this one nightmare…_

_At first it was a burning village, HIS village. His parents laid dead, their bodies horribly burned. He always tried to block that out as best as he could. Then it was THEM…his parent's killers…riding atop those disgusting Komodo-Rhinos…the leader, a firebender with a Mohawk and a nose-ring…__**HE **__was the one who had murdered his parents. The masked grenadier and the archer were the ones that burned his village…the other two had just been along to watch the slaughter and occasionally contribute to it…he felt so scared and alone…_

_Then it all went so cold and dark. He imagined fleeing into the woods. The harsh, unforgiving woods where he had to lie in hiding until he could work up the nerve to steal some food from nearby towns. But those woods…they where his only home. His nightmare was always like this…a retour of all of the horrific things that had happened to him…the woods where the worst. He imagined running through them again. He could see eyes looking at him in the darkness…evil, blood-red eyes that would have to belong to monsters of some sort. They looked hungry…_

_He kept running. As he did, he tripped, and stumbled into an area not covered by the trees…a cave. He stumbled into a cave. He had no choice but to wander into the dark…then, those red eyes showed up again. And out of the darkness came the creatures. Wolf-Bats. A whole swarm of wolf-bats flying at him. He panicked, and cowered as they swarmed past him and out the cave. He screamed in fury as they flew away from him…the wolf-bats…_

Jet awoke in a cold sweat. He cursed himself for suffering from this nightmare again and again. He wished that he could just stop having it. He tried to sleep again. This time, his sleep was better, likely due in part because of his injuries, which made him more exhausted. That helped…

"Jet…"

Jet opened his eyes wearily at the sound of his name being called. He saw June standing over him, looking sad and remorseful.

"Jet… I'm so sorry about what I did before…I lost control…and I'm sorry, about…what I did…working for those Fire Nation officers and all…I know I can seem…cold, and unforgiving, but…I'm not heartless Jet. Please don't think that I'm some kind of monster…"

Jet thought about it for a moment. Then, he said: "I forgive you June. I…I've done some horrible things myself, so I guess it's not fair for me to judge…just please stay with me…I…like your company…usually."

June smiled. "I do too Jet. It's been a while since I've actually associated with anyone like this…It feels good…"

"Yeah…well…good night June."

"…Good night Jet…"

Jet's sleep afterwards was blissfully dreamless. The next day, as he was exiting his tent, he found June waiting for him. She pulled him to one side as Longshot and Smellerbee started having their breakfast.

"Jet…you said that the Fire Nation destroyed your village? Do you know who did it?"  
"What do you mean?"

"Who killed your parents and burned down your village? I happen to know my way around. If you could tell me who did it…I could help you find them."

Jet raised an eyebrow. "You could?"

"Yes, I could"

"And why would you?"

"To give you a chance for revenge…to make up for what I did before…"

Jet thought for a moment. He had been down this road of revenge before, and it had cost him dearly. But he had never really had the opportunity to _really_ get revenge. Not on the people that had really taken his life from him…could Longshot and Smellerbee really understand though? He hoped they so…he didn't want to have to choose between them and this…

Jet took a deep breath and gave his answer: "The Rough Rhinos"

"I know them. A lot of people do. I can help you find them, if you let me use my sources. Once I know where they are, we can track them down and then all of us can take them down together."

"Really? The four of us? But none of us are benders…"

"Only their leader is a bender. And besides, we've got Nyla, and they're overrated anyhow. I've seen them get bested before. They're like any pack of bullies: dangerous to people who can't fight back, but to us…"

"Alright, June, I'll go for it."

"Excellent. Don't worry Jet…I'll stand by you."

"Thank you."

June nodded. As she walked off though, Jet called back to her: "And June…about that "one bender" who's with the Rough Rhinos? He's mine"

**Author's Note: Things are heating up, (no pun intended) as you can see. The next chapter is of course going to center around the Rough Rhinos, and the chapter after that will also include a minor character from the show, but not who you might expect…**


	16. The Renegades Part 6: Seeking Revenge

**Author's Note: Surprised at another update so soon? Well, I lucked out with a snow day, giving me the time I needed to finish this one. This is another long, dark, bloody chapter, just a word of warning. This one is straying dangerously close to M-rated territory, but it's still good…I think. You decide.**

Seeking Revenge

Jet and June had set out alone on top of Nyla around noon. Jet didn't want to drag Longshot and Smellerbee back into this business, so he'd told them that he and June where just leaving for a while and that they would be back. He wasn't sure if they really believed his half-hearted story, but they must have not have thought he was doing something rash, because they didn't object when he and June left.

June led Jet to several particularly seedy establishments where the two of them tracked down June's "sources" and proceeded to ask them anything and everything they knew regarding the Rough Rhinos. And they weren't always gentle either. Eventually, their assembly of various clues, tips, and rumors placed their targets around Gaoling and the surrounding areas, rounding up the last few attempted escapees from Ba Sing Sae, nearly all of whom had been recaptured. Jet and June, upon getting their source, rode as fast as Nyla was willing to go. They would have to hurry if they wanted to catch the Rough Rhinos in time, as the group left the second their task was done. Eventually, they came to the outskirts of Gaoling, which the Rough Rhinos had already surrounded. They were facing down the leader of the town it seemed.

"What's going on here? What are you Rhinos doing here?"

"We're here for the Earth Kingdom fugitives from Ba Sing Sae that you're hiding. Give them up!"

"What! There are no Earth Kingdom fugitives here! Unless us honest citizens qualify as "fugitives" in which case I-"

Colonel Mongkee viciously backhanded the town head, sending him flying. He turn around and gave out orders to the other Rough Rhinos:

"Spread out and find where they're hiding those fugitives! "Persuade" anyone who doesn't see things our way, and then take this place for the Fire Nation!"

With their orders given, the Rough Rhinos rode off in different directions, each one causing havoc in a different way. As Jet watched them from a distance, he saw the destruction of his village all over again, as he looked at each Rhino in turn…

The Archer was always the first one to draw blood, he remembered that. His flaming arrows started the first fires in his village and in this one he was mercilessly shooting anyone that ran into his path. People were dropping left and right to his arrows, as they had in Jet's village...

The one with the ball and chain was riding around and twirling his weapon around and around solely for the purpose of frightening people. Jet barely remembered him...The one with the zanbatou, he was more familiar with. He'd seen him riding forward cutting villagers left and right, like wheat to a scythe, an atrocity he was repeating here.

The grenadier...he hated him more than the others. It was his explosives that had destroyed houses in his village and killed more people than any of the other Rhinos...his faceless mask never showed an ounce of sympathy or remorse, but in that sense, all of their faces were masks...cold and unforgiving in everything they did...

Then the leader...the sole Firebender, and the catalyst behind Jet's lifelong vendetta. He was there at the beginning, so it was only fitting that his death represented the end of Jet's crusade. He turned to look at the woman who had made this chance at revenge possible...

"June?"

She turned to him, a look of fierce determination on her face.

"Yes?"

"Thank you...for giving me this chance, and...are you ready for this?"

"Yes I am"

"All right...then let's go stop those animals..."

"Will do." June whipped Nyla into action and the two took off down to the town together. Parts of the place where already a-flame, and there were bodies lying in the streets. That only made Jet's blood boil more and his hatred and desire for revenge increase. Nyla kept running as fast as she could, until the beast finally got the Rough Rhino's attention.

"What is _that_?"

June landed the first strike, whipping the Ball-and-chain man across the face, before he tied her whip up in his chain. Nyla struck him in the chest with her tongue and he fell of his komodo rhino; stunned. Jet leaped off of Nyla and onto the komodo rhino. This attracted the attention of nearly everyone, including Colonel Mongkee, who shouted out orders to the other Rough Rhinos:

"Kill these brats! None can stand against the Rough Rhinos!"

Two more of the Rough Rhinos moved in, the Yu-Yan Archer firing missed shots at Jet, who directed the struggling komodo rhino he was on into the spearman's mount. The two beasts crashed into one another, and both Jet and the spearman were dismounted. As they landed, the spearman was first to get back up and made a thrust at Jet, who was able to keep the bladed head at bay with his hooks. Using all of the strength he could muster, Jet forced the weapon out of the spearman's hands and then slid forward, tripping him with his hooks, and bringing his face to the floor.

A red stick with a lit fuse went sailing through the air. Jet saw it coming in time to be able to move, but the blast still knocked him down. He turned and saw that the grenadier and the yu-yan archer were encircling him, the latter had his bow drawn.

"End of the line punk..."

A lasso suddenly wrapped itself around the archer's throat, forcing him to lose his aim and drop his bow and arrow as he struggled and gasped for air. June tugged and pulled the archer off of his mount, dragging him on the ground as Nyla kept going in the opposite direction. Normally, Jet might have been a little repulsed by that kind of borderline sadism, but not when it came to _these_people...

He ran at the grenadier and dodged his next explosive. He leaped onto the back of the komodo rhino, and ducked as the grenadier turned and threw another explosive at him in desperation. He readied another but Jet restrained his forearm with the hook on his sword. Incensed, the grenadier attempted to punch Jet with his free hand, only for Jet to slash at his under-arm with his other sword, which was not protected by armor. The grenadier screamed in pain upon being cut so deeply and grasped his bleeding arm, letting go of the explosive. Jet, seeing it drop out of the grenadier's hand, jumped off of the Komodo Rhino and kicked the the explosive back at the grenadier...

The resulting explosion was nothing short of spectacular. The explosive also set off the others inside the grenadier's saddle-bag, which sent the rough rhino sailing through the air before crashing onto the ground where he laid still. The explosion had blasted most of his armor to pieces. Even Jet couldn't help but be disgusted for a moment before he remembered who he'd just blown up.

"MURDERER!"

Hearing that Jet was brought back to reality, and his anger returned. He turned to see that the spearman he had previously disarmed was running at him again, blade at the front. Jet leaped and then twirled in the air, slicing off the head of the zanbatou as he did so. Simultaneously, he kicked the spearman back.

"You've burned down villages! Slaughtered families! And you're calling _**me**_a murderer!"

Jet swung his twin hook swords at the now weaponless rough rhino and then kicked him back once more, incapacitating him. Jet turned to see the Yu-Yan archer also lying on the ground incapacitated, possibly dead. Good. That meant that there was only one Rough Rhino left...

Jet turned and there he was. As he saw him, all of the memories of that fateful fiery night came back to him...And that one fire-bender staring at him..._**smiling**_at him...that was what really ignited his rage into an inferno of hatred. Smiling at him after murdering his parents...as if killing them meant nothing. Nothing at all. Well, he was going to show him otherwise...

"I don't know where you get your nerve kid...coming after us like this, but..."

Colonel Mongkee paused as he got a better look at Jet's face. And then he realized how familiar it was...

"Wait...I recognize you...yeah...you were the one kid from that village I burned a couple years back. It was fun."

Fun...that one word caused something in Jet to snap. His restraint disappeared, his sense disappeared, and for one moment, he was like he had been immediately after his parent's deaths all those years ago...

Jet leaped at Colonel Mongkee in a blood-lusted fury.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

Colonel Mongkee launched a blast of fire at Jet who partially dispersed it with his swords and leaped over the rest. No more games. Jet was ready to end it all, here and now. Mongkee fired another blast and Jet ducked to avoid it. Mongkee ordered his komodo rhino to run forward at that moment and embed its horns into Jet's chest, but by then, he had already ducked to one side. Reaching out with his swords, he hooked the side of mongkee's shirt and pulled him off of his komodo-rhino with all of his strength. Mongkee recovered more quickly than Jet had anticipated though, and shot a stream of fire at him. Jet was forced to the ground by the blast, and saw Mongkee standing over him.

"No sudden moves boy. Now I finish what I started a decade ago..."

An arrow whizzed by Colonel Mongkee's head and just barely missed it before embedding itself into the ground. Jet quickly took advantage of the distraction by tripping Mongkee to the ground with his hook sword. Mongkee tried to bring his fist up to fire another blast of flame but Jet was quicker. Crossing one arm over the other, he plunged the heads of his twin hooks into the ground, one on each side of the colonel's neck. That discouraged any attempts by Mongkee to keep up his offensive.

This was it. This was his moment of revenge on the man that had ruined his life. And he was all set to take it. All he needed to do would be to uncross his arms, moving each of the swords closer to one another and then past each-other…and he'd effectively decapitate his parent's murderer.

He was ready. He knew he could do this…he'd killed firebenders before…never this messy, true…but so what? He could still go through with it. And besides, _he_ hadn't been gentle when he'd murdered his parents, so why should Jet care about how he got his revenge?

"Jet!"

Jet turned and saw that Smellerbee was there, and, as he had figured, Longshot (he would have recognized the arrow that saved him from Mongkee anywhere)

"Jet, please don't do this! This isn't you anymore!"

"Isn't it? I've always wanted to kill him!"

"Like this? You're going to _take his head off_! You've never been that violent before…"

"If I didn't know any better…"

Jet turned his gaze back to Mongkee, who was apparently speaking to him:

"…I'd say that little girl is saying you don't have the spine to kill me…"

That taunt was all it took to make Jet's fury return. He gripped his twin hooks tighter and glared at him as he replied darkly:

"Watch me"

"Jet! Please stop!" Smellerbee was crying now, with Longshot not doing much to try and stop her as she continued:

"Why can't you ever stop? You'll never let this go! Don't backslide to your old ways! Think about what happened the last time…"

"THOSE TIMES WERE DIFFERENT! Everything else was different! This man actually murdered my parents! I _**have**_ to do this!"

"No you don't! I didn't have to kill my mother's killer! Longshot didn't have to put arrows in the heads of all the Firebenders that burned _his_ village! You _**don't**_ have to! Please, let it end!"

Jet closed his eyes and tried to block out what Smellerbee was saying. Dammitt, why did she and Longshot have to come? It just needed to be him and June. Just between them…but no. And now he was conflicted, as he feared he would be. A part of him wanted so, so badly to kill his parent's murderer. Avenge their deaths…but then both Smellerbee's reason, and his own, for that matter, gave him a mile-long list of reasons why he _**shouldn't**_…and yet he was set to ignore them all. So high was the price of revenge…

"Do it!"

Jet opened his eyes and inched his blades closer to him and said, as calmly as he could:

"You're going to be as quiet as can be, or I am going to take your ugly head off right now. Understand?"

"Bah. You're a bloody coward…"

Jet then heard the unmistakable sound of June riding up behind him on her Shirshu, and he turned to face her. For the first time ever since he'd seen her, she looked genuinely worried and concerned.

"Jet…are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes. I want to kill him…so badly. For years, I've wanted to kill him…"

"Think for a minute Jet…I don't think you're friends want you to go through with this…"

"We **don't**! I'm begging you Jet! If you do this, if you start all of this again, you won't ever be able to stop! You'll just keep going until you die! Please, please let it end!"

"Jet…maybe you shouldn't…"

Jet turned around to June once and more and said:

"You're the one who helped me with this! And you're…"

"What? A bounty hunter? A mercenary? That doesn't mean I'm a sadist Jet! I don't want to see you do this either to be honest. It's…it's too cruel. Too cold-blooded and heartless. And that isn't you. In the time we've spent together; I know that that isn't you"

Jet thought about it for a moment. So June didn't want him to do it either…now he felt he had to consider. He thought about it all: all of the reasons why he shouldn't kill his parent's killer…he thought about how it wouldn't undo what he had done, obviously. He thought about how, as Smellerbee pointed out, it might cause him to backslide to his old ways, which had previously nearly killed him…and then he thought about how it would just hurt them…Smellerbee, Longshot, and June…they were the only family he had now…would he really choose to sacrifice his current family to avenge his former one?

No. That didn't make any sense. He couldn't do it. As much as he wanted to see this man dead for what he did, as much as he would have loved to take his head right off, it wasn't worth it. He raised his twin hook swords and stepped back.

"I can't do this…not anymore…"

Smellerbee breathed a sigh of relief. Jet was also relieved, in a way. He'd finally overcome his hatred, just this once. He turned to see that June was smiling…but then her smile was fading…turning into an expression of horror…

_No…_

Jet tried to move in to help June but he was too late. The fire blasted outward and looked it was going to hit and kill her but instead it hit Nyla. The flames burned her fur and caused her to thrash violently, which did cause June to fall off. Longshot was the first to react, drawing an arrow and firing it.

Jet was next, rushing over to June as Nyla continued to thrash around in an attempt to put out the rest of the flames. He shot a brief look over to where Colonel Mongkee was and saw that he was still lying on his back, only now there was now an arrow sticking out of his head. Longshot had solved his problem for him. Jet turned back to June and helped her up.

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. What about-?" Upon seeing Nyla with parts of her fur now burnt, June ran over to tend to her precious shirshu. As she was getting Nyla to calm down, she turned to Jet.

"What happened to the bastard who did this?"

"Dead. Longshot killed him"

"Tell him I said thanks. No one burns my Nyla…"

"I will…and June?"

"Yes?"

Jet wasn't entirely sure what to say, but he went for the most obvious response:

"Thank you…for everything"

June smiled at him again

"You're welcome"

Jet and June hugged each-other tightly as Jet thought about how Longshot had shot and killed Colonel Mongkee. So his parent's killer had died anyway. Not by Jet's hand, but that didn't matter anymore. What was done was done. He was dead, and so where the other Rough Rhinos…most of them anyway. What few had survived wouldn't be able to reform their little group, so their careers were pretty much finished. He'd ended the Rough Rhinos…

Revenge was his, and he still had his family…but he then he felt the next obvious question sneak up on him as he and June kept up their embrace:

What now?

**Author's Note: Apologies if the ending came off as a bit abrupt, but…**

**The next chapter is going to be fun to write. I dare you to guess who will be appearing.**


	17. The Renegades Part 7: To be healed

**Author's Note: Here we are! Part 7! To compensate for the last two chapters, this one is a good bit more spiritual, and also includes that special guest character I've been mentioning. Enjoy!  
**

The four of them had made camp a ways away from Gaoling. After their scuffle with the Rough Rhinos, they decided that it would be best to stay as far away as possible. They also decided that it would be best to keep moving, since them taking out the Rough Rhinos would inevitably make the Fire Nation mark for them death.

Eventually though, they found a somewhat secluded area where they hoped they could stay hidden for at least a few days before they would have to move. It all depended entirely on when or if the Fire Nation ever found them.

As it was, they'd been safe and sound for about a day or two. June had spent her time tending to Nyla's burns while Longshot and Smellerbee kept to themselves, preferring one another's company over anyone else's it seemed. Jet sat in silence as he contemplated what had transpired recently with him and the Rough Rhinos…he'd nearly done it. He'd nearly killed his parent's murderer had the others not convinced him otherwise. As hard as it had been at the time, he still convinced himself that he had made the right choice. But it wasn't just that…no…it was something else Smellerbee had said…how he would never be able to let it go. Even if he got revenge on his parent's killers, it still couldn't sate his bloodlust. He tried to convince himself that that wasn't true, as he had been fine up to now…but deep down, he knew, that it could never end. As much as he didn't want to, that other side of him, that side that couldn't stop, that side threatened to take over again. And he realized, that unless he found someone, or something, to help him, he would descend back into his old vengeful ways…

Deciding that nothing could be done just by sitting around, Jet got up and headed out for a walk, desperately hoping that it would help clear his mind. As he made his way through the meadow, he found that his inner dilemma remained unresolved, but was shaken out of his thoughts when he bumped into an elderly dark-skinned man as he was walking.

"Oh! Heh, pardon me. Didn't see where I was going…"

The man's hand was on Jet's chest for a second before he removed it.

"Well, sorry. Good day to you…"

The old man walked off, leaving Jet alone once more. As he watched him walk away, Jet found himself wondering who that man was and why he was there, but it quickly left his thoughts. After walking around a little longer, and finding that he still felt lost and confused, he decided to give up and went back to the camp, more frustrated then ever…

-X-

Jet awoke in a cold sweat. The nightmares had done it again. He found himself amazed (and frustrated) at how after so many years, they never failed to wake him up. He groaned in anger. As he made his way out of his tent to get some fresh air, he noticed a rolled up piece of paper lying on the ground. Curious, Jet grabbed it, opened it, and read the message:

_I can feel your plight, and I can help heal you. Follow the trail I have laid if you wish to find me._

Jet looked out and saw a Pai Sho piece lying on the ground, and saw three or four more in the distance, each of them a few yards apart. Though not quite sure what it was about, Jet's curiosity (and desperation) got the better of him, and off he went…though not without grabbing his twin hook swords as a precaution.

He followed the trail of pai sho pieces through the meadow he had traversed previously and then beyond…the farther he went, the more nervous and unsure he became. But then he came to a hill-top where the trail seemed to end. Standing in the center of the hill was a wooden cup filled with some kind of liquid. Next to it was another letter, this one with a very simple message:

"Drink up. It will help"

Jet was baffled by the message. He looked over both of his shoulders, but saw no one. Deciding that he would not get any further if he did nothing, Jet grabbed the cup. He dipped a finger into the liquid and brought it to his mouth. Nothing unusual about it. Jet took a sip…and spat it right out.

It was quite possibly the most revolting thing he had ever been forced to drink, tasting like an odd blend of banana and onion, and the mix was not a pleasant one. He doubted even Fire Nation prisoners had to drink anything that bad…

Now believing the whole thing to be a joke and now quite upset, Jet was all set to leave when he heard a friendly-sounding voice call out:

"Oh, it's OK. I mean you no harm. I just want to help."

Out of the shadows stepped the same old man that Jet had seen earlier that day. He wore very little, except for a piece of clothing that covered his groin and wrapped around one of his shoulders. He also had quite the beard.

"You? Who are you?"

"I am Guru Pathik. I believe that I can help you with your problem…"

"How do you know I have any real problems?" Jet asked somewhat rudely.

"Well, the mere tone in your voice gives it away!" The guru chuckled to himself before continuing.

"I've felt you, and all the pain that you've been through in your life. You've become very twisted up inside. I understand that you recently overcame a great personal crisis. That is good, but the conflict and uncertainty within you still remains. I can help you overcome this conflict, and make you at peace with yourself. But I can only do so if you allow me to."

Jet thought about it for a moment. The guru was right of course, he was still conflicted, and he could definitely use some healing. Anything to finally put all of the pain, both physical and emotional, behind him…he thought about it. What did he really have to lose?

"All right. I'll do it…so long as I don't have to drink anymore of that juice…"

"Heh. Good one. Alright then, let us begin."

The guru took off with a surprisingly large amount of speed for someone his age, and Jet had to run for a bit to keep up. Eventually, they came to more flat, evened stretch of land. The guru sat down, and motioned for Jet to follow suit. He did. The guru spoke:

"Jet, you are experiencing an inner turmoil. Though you did not succumb to temptation, you fear that it is only a matter of time before you go seeking revenge against the Fire Nation once more. I know that this is not a path you wish to take. You are currently experiencing a conflict, between the side of you that wishes to change, and the side of you that represents the most negative aspects of your character. This is called "the shadow side". Once you conquer your shadow side, you will finally be able to achieve the inner peace you desire."

"Alright, how do I…"conquer the shadow side"?"

"Conquering the shadow side is a little similar to opening the chakras, the pools of energy in our bodies, but not quite the same thing. The shadow side uses what blocks the first five chakras as a source of power. They are what it feeds off of. To vanquish the shadow side, you must use the things that counter that which the shadow side uses as a strength. The five things that the shadow side thrives on are fear, guilt, shame, grief, and lies. All of the primary things that cause one to lose their way."

"And I have to overcome those things?"

"Correct. To do so will not be easy. The struggle will take place entirely in your consciousness and subconscious. I will help guide you in your struggle as best as I can, but ultimately, it will be up to you."

Jet tried to contemplate exactly what was happening. He had never dealt with anything spiritual before, and certainly not anything of this nature. As it was, it all sounded a little bit out there, but, he was desperate, and if this guru was right…Jet decided to go through with it. He didn't bother to ask what would happen if he failed. For him, that wasn't an option.

"All right. I'm ready."

"Very well. To start, I will prepare you for how to conquer each of the five obstacles: Fear, is the first one you will encounter. What is it that _you_ fear?"

Jet closed his eyes and thought about it. The answer came quickly. He slowly opened his eyes as he gave it:

"That this won't work and that I'll…start it all again…"

"Then simply have confidence that we will succeed. In doing so, you will already be one step closer to success, and as a result, you will reinforce your confidence"

Jet thought about it. It made sense, so he decided that he'd go for it. The guru continued:

"The next two are grief, and shame, two things that often walk hand-in-hand. As a result, these two will likely confront you together. However, once you conquer one, you will likely conquer the other as well."

"How?"

"Simply think of all the guilt that burdens you, the things you blame yourself for, and all that you are ashamed of doing, and then forgive yourself"

"Forgive myself…OK. What about lies?"

"Ah yes. Lies are easy to overcome as you simply counter them with the truth. Know that you cannot lie about your nature or about who you are and what you want, and you will succeed there as well"

"Alright…and…grief?"

"Ah yes, grief…the most common path to revenge. That one, as the final obstacle, and the most potent fuel for your particular shadow side, is one that you must deal with when it confronts you exactly. I will attempt to assist you there as best I can."

That made Jet a little uneasy, but he decided that he had come too far to give up now. He had to see it through to the end.

"Alright. I'm ready"

The Guru nodded, his once cheerful demeanor becoming serious. Outstretching a bony arm, he placed a single finger on Jet's forehead…

Jet opened his eyes to find himself in a dark, empty void, completely featureless. He no longer had his weapons, the guru wasn't there anymore, he was defenseless…

Jet caught himself just in time. _Fear. _Of course. The guru had said that would be the first one, and he was playing right into its hands. But he caught himself, and breathed slowly and calmly:

"Ok…Ok…no one is going to hurt me here…"

Jet felt a strong gust of wind sweep through Jet turned to see that all of the shadows and darkness in the room gathered in one area. Forming a cyclone, it grew large and menacing before dispersing, revealing none other than a copy of Jet, only possessing paler skin with purple veins and blood red eyes.

"Oh but of course they are!"

"You…you're my shadow side?"

The doppelganger chuckled and remarked with sadistic glee:

"Yes. Now, let us see what you fear!"

The doppelganger ran at Jet with his own sword. As he slashed at him, Jet found himself assaulted by all of the fears he experienced over the years…the rough rhinos when they first came and destroyed his village, the wolf-bat swarm in the forest, the first firebenders he ever fought, the Dai Lee agents that arrested him and brainwashed him, Long Feng…all of them came and went, before the big one came: Jet's fear that this inner struggle would not succeed.

But that was the doppelganger's mistake, because Jet was prepared for that one. Remembering the guru's advice, Jet held his confidence that he would prevail, and the fears disappeared. The doppelganger glared at Jet with his red eyes before disappearing into the shadows. Jet hears the guru's voice:

"Congratulations Jet. You have conquered the fear portion of your shadow side. I believe that lies are next…"

Lies…sure enough, the doppelganger returned, this time looking deceptively more friendly. His skin was decidedly less pale, and his red eyes were now the real Jet's brown. But Jet wasn't fooled.

"Do you know who you are? I mean, one minute, you claim you're a freedom fighter, the next, you try and flood a village! Then, you say you want to start fresh, but the second you see heated tea, you think: Firebenders! Who are you really?" The doppelganger demanded.

Jet thought for a moment before giving his answer: "I know who I am…I'm not going to lie any more: I'm a flawed, troubled person…and maybe I wasn't always the great freedom-fighter I always made myself out to be…but I'm definitely not a monster like you! Not anymore. I want to change, I want to start anew, and this time, I mean it"

The doppelganger scowled, its darker appearance returning, before then disappearing once more…

Jet found that the scene before him changed…he watched it all come back into focus…and lo and behold, he was back in his old tree house. He rushed outside, and saw, sure enough, the whole complex of tree-top hideouts that he and his gang had worked so hard to build. It was all here…

He dropped down. He ran out and saw…the village, flooded, and almost completely destroyed.

"You did this you know…"

Jet turned around and saw his doppelganger, frozen to a tree, as he had once been, taunting him:

"You brought destruction to this place. Were it not for the water-tribe boy, all of those innocent people would be dead!"

"Indeed…"

Jet saw another doppelganger step out of the shadows, this one a perfect copy of himself as opposed to the darker, more distorted one frozen to the tree.

"And you attacked the avatar, the last great hope for this world…twice! And you call yourself a hero?"

"I was brainwashed the second time, yet I overcame it. As for the first time, and the dam…yes, I did those things, and I'm not proud of them. But like I said, I've changed. I'm not like that anymore…and I never will be"

"So you forgive yourself eh?"

"Yes…I do."

"Indeed. I wonder though: had your plan succeeded, and all of those innocents were killed…could you forgive yourself then?"

The twin doppelgangers laughed. Jet held his ground, refusing to let those guilty thoughts creep up on him. There was only one negative emotion left…

_Grief_

Jet opened his eyes and he saw them: his parent's alive and well, the same way they had been just a year before….

They looked so happy to see him. His mother had a lighter skin tone, her brown hair was braided back, and her warm smile never faded. His father, though his hair color was different, was who he got most of his physical features from. He had the same darker skin tone and looked a little bit like him, only older, possessing sideburns, and having gray eyes instead of brown…

Then, they faded, and Jet then saw the horrible sight: his village, on fire. The Rough Rhinos riding through, slaughtering anyone they encountered. The grenadier continued to throw his explosives. Jet ran through the crowds of fleeing villagers. He'd been through all of this before…but now he was older…he could get there in time…

But in truth, he could not. He arrived at the exact same grisly scene as what he had seen all those years ago. His parents, dead, burned alive. It was too horrible to see again. Jet fell to the ground as the fires encircled him and his parent's corpses. Tears ran down his face as he screamed in agony. Then he heard the guru's voice:

"_You have indeed felt a great loss Jet. And its pain, both the loss and the cruel brutality of it have left you scarred…but love is more than just an emotion, it is a form of energy, and it swirls all around us…your parent's love for you has not left this world. It is still inside of your heart…"_

His heart…he thought. Yes…who did he love? Longshot and Smellerbee? As his children almost…Katara? Briefly…no…there was one other person that he loved…and in a different way too. Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw a dark figure standing amidst the flames.

This was his true shadow side. A pure solid black copy of himself, featureless, except for the outlines of his clothing and those same, blood red pupil-less eyes that glared at him fiercely.

"Your loss is too great…your grief is too great…these animals took our parents from us. They have taken everything from us. Only together can we avenge their deaths, by destroying them all!"

Jet struggled with it all. This was it…he could feel it…if he could just overcome his grief at last…but it was hard. Harder than anything else. The horrible image of his dead parents kept coming back to him, threatening to push him back into bloodthirsty vengeance…

But he thought of what the guru had said, and of those he still loved. The people whose love he felt for them was his parent's love reborn. Longshot, Smellerbee, and her…June. The fierce, beautiful, sarcastic, and versatile June. A mercenary who was just as human as anyone else, once you got to know her a bit...his partner, his angel…

The time free himself from his grief had come.

"I won't join you. I can never forget my parent's deaths…but it's not going to consume me anymore. And neither will you."

The shadow-side screamed in absolute fury as everything grew so bright…then dark.

Jet opened his eyes and found himself still sitting in the same field as he had been previously. And the guru was still right there, smiling at him.

"Well done Jet. You have conquered your shadow-side. As long as you remain determined to change your ways, your inner turmoil will cease to exist."

Jet, a bit overwhelmed by everything he had endured, particularly the last bit, fought back his tears of both grief and joy as he held out a hand that the guru took.

"Thank you…for helping me…I really needed it."

The guru grinned.

"Of course my boy. All a part of a guru's job. If only my previous endeavor had been more successful…well, I am sure that it will all turn out right in the end."

"Really? Well…OK. Goodbye Guru Pathik"

"Goodbye Jet. Perhaps our paths can cross again someday…"

And with that, the two parted ways, with Jet heading back to the group's camp while the Guru headed off in the opposite direction. As Jet continued to make his way there, he found himself feeling so much happier now that his inner turmoil was gone. He was finally able to change for good. And besides that, going through what he did made him realize that he had some unfinished business to take care of…

Jet made his way into June's tent where she was resting. Stepping in silently, Jet shook June awake.

"Huh? Uh…Jet, what-?"

Jet cut her off by planting a kiss on her lips as hard as he could. June was taken completely off guard by this but then closed her eyes and welcomed him. She grabbed the back of his head and pulled him closer, the two's tongues fighting it out. Finally, they broke the kiss, panting, and looking at one another.

"That was just to let you know…I love you June."

**Author's Note: And that's the end of that! I hope you all enjoyed. "The shadow side" is an actual psychological term by the way. Just thought I'd point that out. Granted, it's not the same as it is here, but it is where I got the term.**


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